The Distortion of Destiny
by LubthaNiBriste
Summary: Percy Jackson was beginning to second-guess ignoring Chiron's instructions. After going on a short quest to retrieve an item belonging to the goddess Hecate, two children of the Big Three find themselves...remarkably different than they were before. Gender-bent Thalia and Percy. Sorry, not a Perlia.
1. Prologue

**AN: This is an idea I have been wanting to try for a while now, and I hope it doesn't disappoint. Feedback, reviews, favorites, and follows are all appreciated. The pairings for this story are to be decided later, but feel free to share any opinions. Zoë is alive in this. It takes place in between the end of the Second Titan War and the disappearance of Percy.**

**Warning: Gender-switching, cursing, and somewhat awkward sexual situations.**

**Disclaimer: Only own the plot of this story, my words and the different names I gave the characters. All else belongs to Rick Riordan.**

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**The Distortion of Destiny**

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**Prologue: **

Percy Jackson gripped his best friend's hand, tugging the daughter of Zeus through the smoky alleyway. As they rushed toward the entrance of the alley, he couldn't help but think back to the reason they were in danger in the first place.

Hecate, the goddess of witchcraft and necromancy, had complained excessively about her missing torch of mystical mojo (Percy hadn't been listening, really), and the two eldest children of the Big Three were sent on a quest to retrieve it. Nico had been also voted to go, but due to a freak occurrence he was admitted into the camp infirmary.

It wasn't lucky to go on a quest with only two heroes, but neither of the demigods wanted to choose anyone else. It was far too dangerous and risky for someone who lacked their abilities, and neither Thalia nor Percy wanted to place Annabeth in any danger. The daughter of Athena had been sick with a cold for a long while, and they knew she was in no position to go on a mission. They could have brought someone as skilled as Clarisse, but she had gone on a field trip with all of the other senior campers.

Hecate had told Chiron that her mystical torch of doom or whatever had been stolen and stored in a cave somewhere around the outskirts of Lockport.

After leaving the Lockport caves, obtaining the torch, and entering town, they soon found themselves being chased by numerous leucrota, the same monsters that Thalia had claimed trapped her and Luke years ago. She had been hesitant to mention the story to the son of Poseidon, but he had been relieved when she finally let him know what the creatures were.

Thalia was paranoid and absolutely convinced that they had come for her.

"They want to rip my throat out," she deadpanned, her expression fittingly stern. "They won't do anything to you unless you try to jump in and save me."

"Hush," he told her. "They are after the torch of unicorns or whatever."

"You mean the Torch of Sorcery?" she asked, raising her eyebrows in amusement. "Maybe you're right. They don't look exactly like the monsters we encountered in Hal's house."

"Hal?"

Her face grew stern once again. It was times like these when Percy could _really _see the similarities between her and Zeus. "Never mind that," she brushed off, tightening her grip in his hand and urging him to run faster.

The alley was flexural, and it seemed like it would never end. The group of leucrota snarled behind them, and one flung itself at the brick wall. It bounced off of the surface and its vicious teeth snapped as it closed in on them. Percy slashed with Riptide, but it was harmlessly reflected. Thankfully, the attack had still flung the monster back.

"They're catching up!" the son of Poseidon yelled, his steps heavy as he sped up his pace. The exit was now within their sight, but they still hadn't managed to ditch the monsters.

Thalia made a sound that sounded suspiciously like a groan of irritation. She matched his pace easily, and began to run slightly ahead of him. She released his hand, and he huffed in anger. He had always been slower than her, and now it was going to cost him his life. He was pretty sure she was doing it on purpose.

"Thalia!" he managed to call out before the magical object tumbled from his hands, the green flame igniting the ground beneath his feet. He jumped from the fire, incidentally tackling her to the ground.

The daughter of Zeus pushed him off of her and stood, eyeing the now raging fire with astonishment. "Gods damn, Percy. Look!"

Percy glanced up to see the leucrota being burned in the flames, screeching in protest and leaping around violently. The fire seemed to be doing the job, but the son of Poseidon hadn't thought the torch served a purpose for heat. If it was the Torch of Sorcery, wouldn't it do something…well, magical?

As soon as the demons stopped thrashing about and crumbled to the ground, the flames began to slowly die down. When the torch lay dormant on the concrete, Percy stepped forward and lifted it. When he brought it up to his gaze, sparkling green fire erupted from the handle, causing him to drop it. He released a pained noise, dabbing at the sparks that danced across his skin.

Thalia had somehow gotten sparks on her as well, and he was grateful for that. He didn't want to be the only one shrieking embarrassingly.

"I bet it was Hera," the daughter of Zeus grumbled.

"You think everything bad that happens to you is Hera's fault," Percy laughed. "If anything, the only goddess messing with us is Hecate."

"The two of them are most likely conspiring against me."

Percy shook his head, a small smile on his face. She was so much like her father. It was almost stereotypical. Thalia had always been extremely paranoid. If someone used a strange tone on her, she automatically suspected something was going on. He envied her slightly in that sense. She was usually the first to discover things because of her wariness, whereas no one ever informed him of anything.

"Maybe I'm helping them!" Percy joked, laughing at the enraged expression on her face. "Careful, Grace."

Thalia set her hands on her hips, clenching her jaw. "What the hell is that supposed to mean? What do I have to be careful for? Are you planning to hurt me?"

As usual, things between them escalated pretty damn quickly.

The son of Poseidon scowled. She always had to act as if she was better than him. He could take her in a fight. "I could if I wanted to."

"Right." Thalia snorted. "You're not so macho."

"I'm too much man for you to handle," he snapped, a sneer stretching his lips. He knew a reference to gender would piss her off. She was a huntress, after all. "Or, I'm sorry, do you prefer _woman_?"

Thalia growled. "I'm more of a man than you are, Jackson! And, I'm a hunter."

Neither of them noticed the flames arising from resting torch.

"More of a man?" he questioned incredulously. "You wish you were this rugged!"

"You've really allowed your heroics get to your inflated head!" Thalia seethed. "I wish I were a man? You have no idea how hard it is being a demigoddess. Everyone worships the male hero!"

"Worship? That's what's you want? You're the freaking daughter of Zeus—all you get is worship!"

"Oh, and you don't?"

"You know, it's hard being a demigod, too. Men have to go through things just like women."

Thalia shot him a disbelieving look. "Oh, yeah? Like what? Your favorite racecar driver losing?"

"Gods, you are so difficult!"

"Oh?" she asked, smirking. "Must be because I'm a _woman_."

"I never even said that! I'm not sexist; I just said it to piss you off, damn it."

"Obviously, it worked."

The fire surrounded them, and it was then that the two of them finally took notice. Percy swallowed nervously, glancing around. There was absolutely no way they could work their way out of the ring of flames. Surprisingly enough, the fire wasn't even _hot_. But, power radiated around them.

"Thalia," he warned anxiously.

The daughter of Zeus nodded shakily, not taking her eyes off the engulfed torch. "I know."

"Torch of Sorcery, right?"

She winced.

"What?" he asked.

"Either sorcery or necromancy," she admitted. "I can't recall."

"Damn it," Percy groaned in distress, stepping closer to her. "We need to stick together."

"Zombies or magic, we'll handle it," she murmured, placing her side against his. She drew her mace canister, immediately transforming it into a spear. "Not gonna lie. Really wish Nico was here now."

Smoke filled the circle, catching in Percy's lungs. Fortunately, he found it wasn't hard to breathe. There was nothing to stop the emerald spirals of smoke from entering his system, but it wasn't harming him so far. He really hoped it wouldn't. His cousin was snatched away from him, thrown a few feet. Thalia dropped her spear and the smoke fully engulfed her. She wasn't in sight any longer, and the son of Poseidon hurriedly rushed to where she had been.

Before he could reach her, a column of the smoke immobilized him and formed around his body. He couldn't feel anything, but he could see the thick film surrounding him.

The only thing he was aware of was the fact that something was definitely going wrong with his body. He couldn't feel it, but he could almost sense the disorder. Something that he had previously considered bulletproof was now being disturbed, but for the life of him he couldn't figure out what was going on.

Percy realized that the torch must have been one of sorcery, as he didn't see any dead bodies roaming about. From that thought, he developed the conclusion that something magical was happening to him. He was being changed. Yes, that must have been it. So, Thalia must have been changing, too.

His view was suddenly lowered. The world around him had grown slightly taller, or…he had shrunk shorter. He really, really hoped it wasn't the latter. Feeling slowly returned to him, and the first thing he noticed was the way he stood. He wasn't as hefty as he used to be. Percy felt daintier, noticeably lighter.

Instinctively, Percy glanced down. It took his mind a while to process what he was seeing. Two shapely spheres hung from his upper chest, and his eyebrows furrowed. Those certainly hadn't been there before. His hands, which he noticed were smoother and thinner, grabbed onto them. Percy screamed. He had breasts. He had _breasts_!

How was that even possible?

Desperately, he unzipped his pants and dug his hands inside his boxer briefs. His now slender fingers came into contact with heated flesh, and he ripped his hand back violently.

"Where did my dick go?" Percy yelled, forgetting that Thalia was around him.

The smoke had completely cleared away, and the unlit torched lay abandoned.

A deep, rough voice called from his right: "I think I found it."

The son of Poseidon turned to face the man who had spoken, only to see someone that was achingly familiar.

The tall boy had shaggy black hair and a pair of bright cyan eyes. Light, almost camouflaged freckles dotted the plain of the boy's nose. He stood at an impressive height—Percy guessed 6'3. The boy's white shirt was too short, revealing his belly button and some of his lightly defined abdomen. The teenager's pants were also too tight, and his _male parts _pressed noticeably against the crotch of the silvery camouflage pants.

Percy laughed, only to instantly stop when the noise sounded more like a feminine giggle. He paled. He really had been transformed into a girl. Gods, everyone back at camp was going to laugh their asses off.

He looked the boy up and down, settling for an amused smirk—before he realized that the teenager was wearing the clothes of his friend. How did the boy end up with Thalia's clothes? It didn't add up. Where was she—?

Percy screamed even louder than he had before. "Thalia! Oh my Gods, you're a man!"

"No shit!" She—he—it yelled in response. The daughter—son—child of Zeus reddened in frustration. "This is your fucking fault, Jackson! I can't possibly go back to Artemis now."

Percy noticed that his friend's voice was extremely gruff and deep, even more so than most men. Now, Percy's voice was extremely lighter. For the love of the Poseidon, it was achingly close in resemblance to his mother's!

He hadn't even thought of how his mother would take the situation. What was she going to say about it? And, Annabeth? Oh gods, Annabeth was his girlfriend!

"I'm sure, if you explain it to her—" Percy started, cursing how high his voice sounded.

Thalia narrowed his—fuck it, _her _blue eyes. She was still a girl, and that was how Percy was going to refer to her. If _she _didn't like it, _she _could get over it.

"Zoë is going to make sure I'm not allowed in the Hunt," Thalia claimed, her voice filled with anger. As usual, Percy was going to be blamed.

Years before, after saving Artemis from Mouth Tampalis, Thalia had been given the option to join the Hunt. When she had been about to decline the offer, Zoë had stepped forward and suggested that she become the new Lieutenant. Thalia had been surprised, but then agreed to the suggestion. Ever since then, she and Zoë had been growing impressively closer to one another. It had surprised everyone, but the daughter of Atlas wasn't so uptight when she wasn't around men.

"You and Zoë have gotten close," Percy argued. "She wouldn't do that."

"She absolutely loathes men. And now…now, that's what I am." Thalia sounded incredibly upset, and Percy was tempted to give his friend a hug. He resisted the urge, knowing how awkward it would be. She probably wouldn't have accepted it, anyway. The only person he had ever seen her hugging was Annabeth, with the exception of that one Winter Solstice. "She's going to hate me."

"We need to fix this," Percy said. "As soon as possible."

Thalia shook her head. "Not going to work. Artemis has taught me little of ancient magic, but I know that the spells are impossible to reverse. To my knowledge, there is nothing known that could cure us."

"We're stuck this way," Percy stated plainly. He felt his heart begin to fill with dread. There was absolutely no way his life would ever be the same. Annabeth would leave him. The other campers would disown him. Thalia would be kicked out of the hunt. They were doomed. "What about Hecate? Couldn't she reverse it?"

Thalia snorted. "No. It's not that easy. She may be able to, if it were a curse of her own. But," she turned her stern gaze to the torch, "I have a strong feeling that we've managed to curse ourselves."

Percy groaned. "No, no! Don't say that." Thalia cracked a smile, and Percy instantly grew defensive. "What?" the recently-turned female asked. "What's so funny?"

"You sound so…"

"Don't say it!"

"…different," Thalia finished, a smirk on her face. "Really different."

"So do you! You sound deeper than Barry Manilow."

Thalia huffed. "My voice is not that deep. Hey, you're really short now."

"Am not!"

"You're only about 5'8."

"That's not short!" Percy exclaimed.

"It's shorter than you were before," Thalia remarked thoughtfully, reaching up to scratch her face. She pulled her hand away, her mouth hanging open. "I have facial hair?"

Percy smirked. "Oh, only a little." He decided to push his teasing a tad bit further, knowing it would upset his cousin even more. "Awh! Look at your little mustache."

Thalia glared, arching a black eyebrow in challenge. "Watch it," she warned. Then, the now son of Zeus frowned. "Okay, this really fucking sucks. It's pretty depressing that we aren't ever going to be the same."

"We might as well try and fix this. We have to deliver this to Hecate, and when we do we'll ask her about it. She should be on Olympus, right?"

"Sure," Thalia agreed. "Let's get going."

"Wait," Percy said, gulping.

Before they did anything at all, it would probably be best for them to exchange clothing. Percy's outfit was too baggy now. With no intentions of being crude, Percy couldn't help but notice how prominently Thalia was showing through the silvery camouflage pants.

"What now?"

"We should switch outfits," Percy said. "Might be a little more convenient."

Thalia glanced down at her crotch and paled. "Oh," she said in realization.

"Yeah, oh."

The daughter of Zeus blushed before pulling the tight shirt over her head. Thalia unbuckled her belt and zipped the pants down, glaring at Percy when she found him watching.

Percy turned away, pulling off his shirt. "You know, I've actually seen a penis before."

"I bet you have," Thalia remarked, obviously humored. "But there is no way in hell you're seeing mine. I haven't even seen it—holy mother of Zeus!"

"What?" Percy asked hurriedly, hoping there was no trouble.

"Just saw it!" Thalia squeaked.

Percy made a face of disgust. How weird _was _it?

He—um, rather _she _pulled off her baggy camp shirt. That's it! He was still a boy, and Thalia was still a female! Just an extremely manly female. The _son_ of Poseidon untied his shoes and flung the sneakers off. He unbuttoned and pulled his jeans to his ankles and then off of his body.

The son of Poseidon clucked his tongue. "Should we keep our underwear?"

"Hell no! Give me those fucking boxers, you idiot."

Percy scowled, pulling the underwear off and flinging them behind his head. "Now, give…give me your p-panties."

Gods, he had to wear _panties_.

It was several long seconds before something landed in his hair. His fingers grabbed the material, and he was shocked by how long his hair now was. It went halfway down his back. He would have to ask Thalia if she had a hair tie or something.

Pulling the material down to his gaze, Percy was surprised. Lacy black panties dangled in front of him. Up until that moment, he had always kind of assumed that his cousin wore boy's underwear or something.

"Put them on and stop ogling them!" Thalia yelled from behind him. "And grab that damn torch when you're done!"

How did Thalia know he was even looking at them? She must have been watching him, which meant she was—

"Stop looking at my ass!" Percy retorted, blushing. "Pervert!"

Thalia didn't choose to respond, so he figured he had won the argument. Either that or the child of Zeus was thrown head-first into mortification.

Percy pulled on the underwear, before he realized he had slipped them on the wrong way. After three more attempts and a little ripping, he managed to get them on right. The son of Poseidon put on Thalia's bra—with surprisingly less difficulty—before he turned around. What he saw made him stop in his tracks.

Percy wasn't into men, by any means, but he could still appreciate a nice body. Thalia's chest muscles rippled with each turn or tilt, and her arms were defined and smoothly cut. His cousin was still thin and pale, though, just as she had been as a girl. A small trail of dark hair led to beneath the waistband of the boxers. Thalia's legs and thighs had been nice when she had been physically a girl, and they still were. The child of Zeus had always walked around with the body of a track runner.

The son of Poseidon was too wigged out to bother glancing down at his newly obtained body.

"What?" Thalia snapped, standing only in a pair of boxers. Percy quickly tossed his cousin the dark jeans and camp shirt. "Come get these."

Percy walked over and slipped into Thalia's hunting uniform—a crisp white shirt, hunter parka, and silver combat pants. His feet were slightly too small for Thalia's hunting boots, but he could fit well enough without them falling off. The daughter of Zeus had trouble slipping into his sneakers, and Percy attributed it to the fact that she had clown feet.

"Shut up!" Thalia yelled when her cousin began laughing uncontrollably. "Gods, how small are your feet, Jackson?"

When all the son of Poseidon did was laugh again, Thalia threw the shoes into her backpack and settled for wearing socks. They exited the alleyway after Percy carefully stuffed the torch into his bag. They didn't want to risk taking it out again or saying something that may trigger the torch, so they didn't talk the rest of the way into Manhattan.

By the time they got to the Empire State Building, they were already receiving strange looks from people around them. Percy realized that the two of them most likely resembled homeless teenagers. Thalia's hair was sticking up every-which-way and his looked as if it had never been brushed. The daughter of Zeus also had no shoes on, which wasn't helping their case any.

They nearly stumbled into the building, slowly trudging to the front desk. Percy cleared his throat, and the man at the desk glanced up at him with a flirtatious smile. He felt like he was going to be sick, but he pushed himself to say something—_anything_.

"We need the key to the six-hundredth floor," Percy said quickly, uncomforted by the man's leer. "Please."

"Sorry, cutie," the man said, leaning forward. "We don't have a six-hundredth floor. But, maybe I can take you up to _my _floor, and we can—"

Thalia abruptly slammed her fist on the desk and glared coldly at the man. "Listen, fucktrumpet." _Fucktrumpet? _She really needed better insults. "You have a job to do. Last I checked that job wasn't hitting on underage girls. If you refuse to give us the key, I'll castrate you with a weed whacker and—"

The man suddenly flung the keys on the counter, his eyes wide in terror. "All right, all right! Take the damn keys!"

Thalia smirked. "Thank you, sir. We'll be on our way."

After they had already entered the elevator and Percy had pressed the designated button, the daughter of Zeus turned to face him.

"That guy used to hit on me every time I came here."

"Really?" Percy asked, genuinely curious. "I don't know what I'm going to do if I get treated like that all the time."

Thalia grimaced. "Part of being a woman."

The son of Poseidon gasped rather dramatically, glaring whenever Thalia snickered at him. "Part of being a woman," he repeated, slowly. "Thalia, I think I know why we were changed."

"Oh, yeah? Why's that, Einstein?"

Percy brushed the slightly snide comment off. "Remember what we were arguing about?"

"No, not really," Thalia answered, eyebrows drawn together. "We argue a lot."

"We argued about whether or not women or men had it worse in life," Percy said. "Maybe, unintentionally, we gave the torch the wrong idea."

"At least we didn't switch bodies," Thalia said, shrugging.

Thalia's nonchalant behavior surprised her cousin. Her whole life was going down the drain. She was going to be kicked out of the hunters, and lose many friends in the process. She was going to lose Zoë and Phoebe. Every one of their friends knew that she was really starting to grow closer to both of the other huntresses, something none of them had even considered in the past. Zoë and Phoebe seemed to have similar feelings for Thalia as well, but Percy knew that all of that would soon change. Zoë Nightshade had been hurt by a man in the past (a son of Zeus, at that), and there was no way that she would look at Thalia the same way again. Phoebe hated men just as much.

Thalia kept her expression blank, and Percy was thrown back into his earlier line of thought. She seemed unaffected by the events. She was like that, he noticed. Thalia fought to prevent any emotion from showing during times of extreme pressure, even though a little stress showed in her face whenever she thought he wasn't looking. She always thought she had to act ten times stronger than she was, to compensate for the weakness displayed by others around her. He grabbed her forearm and sent her a smile.

"You look strange as a girl," she murmured randomly.

Percy's smile turned into a frown and he turned his attention to the elevator doors. "Kill me for trying to be nice and comforting."

The doors opened and the two of them stepped onto the dazzling streets of Olympus. Nymphs and other feminine creature giggled cheerfully as they pranced by the demigods, and Thalia sulked. Percy laughed. Ever since the end of the war, he had gotten similar reactions from certain girls. Of course, he might not be getting those reactions any more. He was sure he made a very pretty girl, though...but just to be sure...

"Thalia?"

"Hmm?" his cousin responded, blushing as they made their way to the throne room.

"Am I a pretty girl?"

Thalia glanced to him, obviously trying not to laugh. "Excuse me?"

"Do I make a pretty girl?" Percy repeated, growing frustrated. It was honestly just a curious question. She didn't have to act so weird about everything. "Well? Do I? You would know."

Thalia shrugged, smirking. "Yeah, you're all right."

"I'm _all right_? Come on. What would you rate me?"

The daughter of Zeus thoughtfully looked over his new form. "A six or seven," Thalia mumbled eventually. "You're kind of pretty, I guess."

"A seven?" Percy exclaimed, grinning. "I'm downright gorgeous!"

Thalia scoffed. "Don't push it. Your personality kind of ruins it."

The son of Poseidon looked away. Boy or girl, Thalia could be a major asshole. They were almost to the doors of the throne room when his cousin suddenly stopped and glanced over at him. The daughter of Zeus was still red in the cheeks, which was a sight in itself. Thalia almost never blushed, seeing as she was always so confident.

"What?" the son of Poseidon asked.

"So…" Thalia trailed off unsurely. "Do I, you know…make a handsome guy?"

Percy scoffed. "I'm so not answering that."

The two of them wasted no time in entering the throne room, its doors creaking open automatically. All of the Olympians occupied their seats, and turned their unfeeling gazes to the demigods. Zeus, sitting proudly in the center of them all, cleared his throat pointedly.

"Identify yourselves and your purpose for entering Olympus."

Thalia looked so worried. Percy was convinced she was about to explode from her nervousness. She rocked back on her heels and made eye contact with her patron goddess, Artemis.

The goddess of the Hunt stood from her throne and furrowed her eyebrows at the two of them. Her cheeks were slightly red, and the son of Poseidon was worried that they had somehow angered her. She was one of the immortals he actually respected. "That is most peculiar. I do not recognize you as one of my huntresses."

Percy gulped, shifting his stance anxiously. "I'm not. I just needed girl clothes."

Artemis snickered. "Pardon, young maiden?"

Athena's gaze was cool and calculating as she observed the half-bloods, but she chose not to say anything relating to the matter. Percy had a feeling that she would before too much time passed. Things between him and the goddess of wisdom were rocky. She had accepted his relationship with Annabeth (which would now be under question), but she still didn't particularly favor him in the least.

Ares was disinterested, as were Dionysus and Hephaestus. They ceased staring at the two of them, settling for impatiently glancing around the room. Zeus and Poseidon were sending them looks of fogged recognition. Percy suspected that they would be the first to realize who they were. Hera was openly glaring at Thalia's male "self", though it was obvious that she didn't know it was the offspring of her unfaithful husband. Aphrodite had a wicked glint in her eyes, and wasn't bothering to hide her clear appreciation of the two of them.

Hestia studied them with great interest, apparently not making the connection. It was strange for her, as she was a highly perceptive goddess. Apollo winked over at Percy, making an attempt to flirt.

The son of Poseidon heard Thalia snort discreetly, and he elbowed her in the side. He roughly nudged solid muscle, and he almost flipped out. He hadn't realized how weird it was that his female cousin was now a man. Everything was so…different. He hadn't come to terms with it all before, but it all hit him again. They had switched genders. Nothing was ever going to be as it was.

"It is obvious you are demigods," Athena added in finally, and Percy released the breath he had been holding dramatically. "But, none of us have ever seen the two of you before. What is your parentage? Who has lent you passage into Olympus?"

Thalia cleared her throat, collecting her serious, businesslike composure. "I assure the twelve of you that you have most certainly met us before. There was even a whole huge prophecy a while back."

Okay, she definitely lost some of the _businesslike_ near the end of her statement.

Percy made eye contact with his surprised father and smiled shakily. "Hi, Dad."

Zeus stood from his throne abruptly, ordering Artemis back to her chair. She followed his command reluctantly, eyeing her lieutenant with something akin in disappointment. The King of the Gods shrunk to his mortal size—a good inch or two taller than Thalia—and walked over to them. His wise eyes searched the face of his daughter, wide in astonishment.

"Thalia?" he asked simply, letting the shock rinse off of his expression. His voice was firm and straight to the point. "How has this come to transpire?"

"Percy and I were searching for Hecate's missing torch. One thing led to another, and we somehow…um, _used _it. Unintentionally, of course," Thalia answered. Zeus was taken aback by her deep, masculine voice. "What?"

Aphrodite made a strange, yet flattering noise in the back of her throat. The goddess winked at the recently turned son of Zeus. "I don't know why you all are treating this like a curse. I find it to be quite the opposite, actually."

Thalia flushed scarlet and Artemis glared at the goddess of love. "Aphrodite," the goddess of the Hunt stressed. "You will not flirt with my huntresses, whether they are…_male _or not. We will figure this out as soon as possible and return them to their original forms."

Zeus frowned. "You of all people know what is possible, opposed to what is not," he said, turning to address Artemis. He transformed back into his godly form and sat back in his throne. He looked to Thalia. "You will approach the goddess Hecate and address this issue immediately. She lives on the flat overlooking the marketplace."

Apollo hummed to himself, pulling out his headphones. "It's the bright purple and green one. You can't possibly miss it."

Before the demigods could exit, Poseidon called them back. All eyes in the room turned to the god of the sea. Percy was surprised. Whatever his father had to say, it had to be important. He sort of didn't expect his father to say anything. After seeing his son turned into a girl, it would only make sense that he would try and repress the thought.

"I am sure my brother, Zeus, will agree with what I am about to recommend," Poseidon began, not taking his gaze off of Percy. "None of the campers or anyone outside of Olympus, aside from Chiron or Sally perhaps, shall know of this curse. Until we are absolutely positive there is no cure, you two are to keep this information secret. It is vital that this does not reach any other immortals. Gods are known to fool with the minds of distressed heroes, and the last thing the world needs is two disheveled children of the Big Three."

Athena nodded, her grip tightening on the arm of her throne. "Agreed, Lord Poseidon, in the strongest sense of the word. However, I do believe my daughter Annabeth would prove herself useful to the two of them. Wisdom works alongside—"

"Never mind that, Lady Athena," Hera interrupted, her tone now intrigued. Her pretty eyes were scanning her husband's child, finding something interesting about the matter. "Perhaps Aphrodite was being sensible when she reasoned that this could possibly be a beneficent thing."

Zeus breathed in deeply, although he didn't particularly require oxygen. "My dearest wife, this situation is more of a disadvantage than a benefit."

Rather than stay silent, Hera openly opposed her husband with a disrespectful scoff. "You are truly blind."

Dionysus cleared his throat, no longer appearing as bored. "Allow the demigods to exit the throne room already, will you? This bickering is none of their concern. We can continue to discuss it as they journey to confront Hecate."

"Let's get out of here," Thalia muttered, spinning on her heel and marching out of the throne room.

Percy stuck close behind her, still set off about how much taller his cousin was now. She towered over him in her male form. She had always been strong and a good fighter, but seeing her look so physically overpowering to him was tough. He was a man (if only on the inside), and he took a man's pride in his appearance. Years of training had built him to be rather athletic, and Thalia had naturally been transformed into some ripped hero.

He sighed, shaking his head. They had seriously screwed up. He wished they had never been chosen for the stupid quest in the first place.


	2. Wise Words of Hecate

**AN: Just in case anyone was wondering, Percy and Thalia will be referred to as different genders in the next chapter. I tried to transition into it. Oh, and I really don't feel like this story will end up a genderbent Perlia. So sorry if any of you are disappointed, but I don't think that the pairing would work out as well the other way around. Female!Percy would be too submissive for a male!Thalia. Anyway, hope you enjoy the chapter. And thank you for the alerts, favorites and reviews!**

**Disclaimer: Still don't own PJO. I'll make sure to give you a notice if that changes.**

* * *

**The Distortion of Destiny**

* * *

**Wise Words of Hecate**

Percy and Thalia eventually found the house Apollo had mentioned, and they had to narrow their eyes to see it clearly. The entire place was constructed of cloudy purple fog, and gave them the illusion that they could walk directly through it. After finding what they presumed was the door, the son of Poseidon reached out hesitantly to knock on it.

Before he got the chance, a cold gust of air swept by them and the door flew open. No one was waiting on the other side of the door, and Thalia rolled her eyes. Gods always had to be so dramatic. It was truly agonizing for demigods. Without giving her cousin a warning, she stepped over the threshold. Her bare feet came into contact with the chilly floor, and she held back a noise of displeasure. She knew it would just come out incredibly masculine.

If the daughter of Zeus had known that such terrible things could happen on a quest for Hecate, she wouldn't have bothered with going.

She found it rather unusual that she was looking down at Percy. She hadn't been taller than him since their quest to rescue Artemis, and it was definitely something to get accustomed to. Seeing him as a female was even stranger. She almost felt as if it weren't truly him. The girl standing to her left was petite, but athletic. Her hair reached halfway down her back, and her body was curved. She wasn't as built as Percy had been, but she bore the same beautiful sea green eyes and tan skin.

Thalia forced herself to glance away. Percy was her cousin, and he was definitely _not _a _she_. No matter what, he was still her male friend. Outward appearances meant little to nothing. The daughter of Zeus sighed heavily, beginning to work her way through the large house. She really hoped that Hecate would spare them just this once and find some sort of cure.

The son of Poseidon, not one to sit back and let her take the role of leader, walked right alongside her. They both stopped their route to the kitchen when they heard creaking. Thalia automatically glanced up the stairs, suspecting the sound had come from above. She wasted no time in ascending to the second floor, although she certainly had her doubts.

A woman's laughter rang through the house as the demigods made their way to the first door in the hallway. Thalia sat her hand on Percy's chest, pushing him back to prevent him from traveling ahead. Blushing when her hand came into contact with a sizable breast, she pulled her hand to herself. Percy gasped, covering his chest defensively.

"Sorry," Thalia whispered, her voice almost too low to hear. "Did you hear that laugh?"

"I heard my own mortification," the son of Poseidon responded indignantly. "Just because you used to be a girl doesn't mean you can grab me…anywhere."

Thalia groaned in annoyance. "Whatever."

She hated to admit it, but she had almost…liked touching Percy. She shook her head at herself in disgust. This curse was surely messing with her in more way than one. She did not find her cousin attractive, even in female form. It must have been all the male hormones sinking into her brain.

The laugh sounded again, and this time Percy heard it. His eyes widened and he took a step back in alarm.

"Half-bloods," the voice called again. The woman sounded enticing and mysterious. The tone of her words persuaded the demigods to step closer to the door. "You bring my torch?"

Thalia thought better of pulling open the bedroom door and crossed her arms over her chest. "Yeah," she called out loud enough for the goddess to hear. "We have it."

A bed creaked loudly and the door swung open violently moments later. The woman before them had disheveled dark hair and a fierce, wild look in her emerald eyes. She scanned the demigods in surprise, taking in their recent transformation. Her face lit up with newfound understanding, and she nodded slowly.

"You activated the Torch of Sorcery?"

Her tone was one of neither anger nor annoyance. The intent of her words was difficult to decipher, and the demigods weren't sure if they were offending her.

Thalia nodded, swallowing thickly. "Yes, Lady," she said. "Percy and I didn't mean to. It really wasn't our intention at all. The torch fell out of his hands and we were being chased by monsters."

Hecate hummed to herself, holding her palm out expectantly. Percy dug the torch out of his bag and placed it in her possession, eyeing the object warily. After wrapping her palm around the device with a smile of satisfaction, the goddess made a move to shut the door. Before she could, the daughter of Zeus hurriedly shoved her bare foot between the door and wall.

"Wait!" she said urgently. "We need your help reversing…_this_."

The goddess frowned. "I fear I am unable to assist you. You must have brought the curse about yourself, and such a hex cannot be reversed by even the most talented of sorceresses."

"No!" Percy exclaimed. "That can't be. Come on, throw us a bone here!"

Hecate released an irritated breath. "Fine," she relented. "I can only help you discover how it came to be. Beyond that, no one can offer their aid."

She led them back down the stairs and into her spacious, somewhat eerily decorated living room. Souvenirs and strange devices were scattered around and shelves and a dark leather couch sat in the center of the room. The goddess took a seat, patting the spaces next to her. The half-bloods followed her example, Percy sitting in the middle and Thalia on the outside.

"Now," Hecate said, "what did you two happen to be doing prior to this?"

The goddess smoothed the material of her snowy white robe, crossed her legs, and folded her hands over her lap.

It was no secret that Hecate wasn't fond of any demigods that weren't her own. She loathed that she never received much praise from any other heroes, and wasn't known to mask her dislike. The only other demigod that she had ever shown appreciation towards was Nico di Angelo, the son of Hades and cousin to both Percy and Thalia. Hecate was fond of Hades and his wife Persephone, and had spent a great amount of time in the Underworld before the defeat of Kronos. After the Olympians had granted minor gods the right to have their own cabins at camp, the goddess had tried to look past her bitter grudge.

"Arguing," the half-bloods responded simultaneously. They glanced at one another. "Stop that!" they said once again.

Thalia grumbled to herself, looking away. She didn't bother to say anything. She and Percy could spend all day saying the same things on accident.

"Arguing?" Hecate repeated, a smirk breaking through on her pale, statuesque face. "Oh, but of course. It comes as no surprise. What were you discussing?"

Now, that had Thalia stumped. She and her cousin bickered often, and it was very rare that she was ever bothered to remember what they fought over. She had a feeling that they had discussed it earlier, but the thoughts had flown from her mind. She had an incredibly short attention span.

"We were fighting about whether or not men or women had it worse in life," Percy recalled. "And, we bashed the opposite sex."

The goddess flashed them a look of amused disbelief. "You honestly did not realize this beforehand? The torch has a mind of its own, I'm afraid. If it thought you were trying to cast a spell to switch your genders, it wouldn't hesitate to grant it."

"We're stuck like this?" Thalia questioned numbly. "This is ridiculous. There has to be some way to cure this."

Hecate scowled. "I know more of magic than any other. If you would like to see proof for yourself, I loaned my dearest daughter Circe an ancient scroll a while back. I'm positive it covers this matter in particular, if you would wish to obtain it and read its contents."

Sea green eyes widened. "Uh, thanks and all…but I'm pretty sure it is better if we stay away from your daughter."

Hecate shrugged carelessly.

Percy sighed, burying his face in his hands. "How am I going to explain this to Annabeth?"

Thalia glanced at him sympathetically. "I'm so sorry, Percy."

He gave her a small, shaky smile. "I'm sorry about Zoë and the rest of the huntresses."

Thalia's face hardened. She had tried to keep from thinking about it after she had spilled her worries to Percy. Zoë Nightshade hated men, and would never consider spending time with one. The daughter of Zeus had no doubt in her mind that the huntress wouldn't mind seeing her booted from the followers of Artemis. They were getting along terrifically, but she knew that Zoë would never stand for journeying with a male.

The daughter of Zeus stood, cracking her back. She turned to shoot Hecate a look of gratitude, nodding her head. "Thank you for your kindness, goddess," she said. "Even though there is no cure, we appreciate your efforts."

Percy walked out of the house, leaving his cousin behind with the goddess. Before Thalia could follow after him, she found her arm grabbed by Hecate. The daughter of Zeus glanced to the woman, furrowing her dark eyebrows in confusion.

Hecate kept her face emotionless and her eyes solid as stone. "Magic can be cruel or it can be great. It can be dark or light. It can be many things, but it cannot be dishonest."

Thalia let the goddess' words sink in, but she found that they didn't mean anything to her. She had never been one for riddles. "What do you mean?"

Hecate stood from the couch and waltzed her way to the staircase, not bothering to say anything. The daughter of Zeus was about to call out to her, but suddenly found herself in the throne room. Percy stood next to her, looking to his father. Thalia scanned the faces of the gods, attempting to conclude what was going on.

"What of Hecate?" Zeus asked. "What news have you brought forth, demigods?"

Percy's eyes glinted in despair. "It is unable to be reversed."

Artemis shifted in her throne, her jaw tightening in rage. Her cheeks were tinted red, but she refrained from speaking. The appearance of her goddess made Thalia swell with worry. Would she soon be dispelled as her lieutenant? Did Artemis no longer desire her attendance?

Poseidon glowered. "We will discover something. There are dark arts—magic so ancient that even we are foreign to it. But, as we have proven time and time again, nothing is impossible."

Athena turned her analytic stare to the son of the Sea God. "That is true, Uncle. But, as you have stated, some things are unknown. There are many things that are better left untouched, by the hands of the gods or others. I believe that this is one of those things."

Hera hummed. "You make an agreeable point, Athena. Perhaps this is not a matter that should be addressed."

Zeus seethed. "Do not be ignorant, any of you. If it were your offspring, I'm sure you would jump at the opportunity to find a cure. But, Poseidon and I have practical reasoning on our sides as well. It is not of logical order that two powerful children of the Big Three be morphed in this way. It was an incident, one that was not foreseen in any prophecy or vision. It was not to be so."

Apollo nodded in agreement. "That's true. I didn't receive any warning at all."

"Magic has always been tricky, dear," Hera gritted through her teeth. "It does not obey any laws but its own. It serves to wreak havoc, and it is of dire importance that its course remains untouched."

Aphrodite frowned, although it wasn't a hindrance to her perpetual beauty. "Love is the very same, Queen. It cannot be traced or predicted by any means. It runs its own course, but people have been interfering with it since the beginning of thought."

Athena scoffed. "The only pure, undeniable affection is one of a mental—"

Aphrodite laughed. "Hush," she commanded, waving a hand dismissively. "There's a reason I'm the goddess of love. If you knew more of it than I, then you would not be labeled the goddess of wisdom."

Artemis observed her lieutenant critically. "The only topic in which this council should be concerned with is the fate of the demigods present. If we could remain on that topic for longer than three seconds, I am sure that we could accomplish much more."

Athena held in her retort, focusing on the professional issue at hand. Ares smacked his gum, taking his pocket knife out of his pocket to pick at his teeth. "Let's just leave the brats be," he sneered. "The twerp is more tolerable this way."

Percy grumbled, and Thalia patted him on the back. "Don't listen to him," she said. "You're never tolerable."

Zeus called attention to the Council. "All in favor of finding a cure for these heroes?" He, Poseidon, Demeter, Aphrodite, Apollo, Hephaestus, Artemis, and surprisingly Dionysus raised their hands.

"We have a majority," he announced. "It is settled, then. Percy and Thalia will return to camp, and will only inform Master Chiron of the spell. We will split up into parties to search for a cure. Until we get to the bottom of this, this meeting is adjourned."

Thalia and Percy found their way into the courtyard, watching the sea of deities dance around to the sound of glorious music. Dionysus was permitted to distribute wine, although he was strictly forbidden from having any for his own purposes. Couples laughed and swayed joyously. Nymphs giggled at the attempts of male gods, leading them into the forest land.

The son of Poseidon frowned, running a hand through his now long hair. "So, what are we supposed to do when we get to camp?"

"I imagine Chiron will help us out a bit. He'll place us into a cabin," she replied. "We don't know anything else about the spell, so it's best if we stick together."

"Gods."

"What, Percy?"

He sighed tiredly, shaking his head. "How am I supposed to be a girl? I know nothing about women. I don't know what's appropriate, and what's not. I can't really stop being myself. My personality hasn't changed at all."

Thalia shrugged. "Maybe we can help each other out."

"I hope so," he said. "We should probably…um, teach each other the basics now."

The daughter of Zeus nodded. "Of course. It's best to do it before we get to camp."

Percy scratched the back of his head. "Do girls really have pillow fights and all that at sleepovers?"

"Not at any I've been to," she replied. "Then again, I doubt any of them would be left conscious afterwards."

"Okay. How do I act in front of other girls?"

"Don't flirt with them," Thalia asserted. "One, you have a girlfriend. Two, people will think you're creepy. There's no need to pull a Grover." Percy stifled a laugh. "Just act like yourself, but not the…manly part of yourself. Really depends on who you hang around, of course. Just observe the way the girls are behaving, and try to fit in."

The son of Poseidon nodded. "Any questions you have about acting like a boy?"

Thalia raised a brow at him. "I think I got it."

He shook his head, laughing. "There's a lot even you don't know. It's complicated."

"What?" she asked, sarcastically arching a dark brow. "Do I have to wear a certain color on Tuesday? Is there some top-secret spy dress code?"

"Fine, fine," Percy laughed, throwing his hands up in surrender. "You don't need any advice. I get it."

A strange feeling coursed its way through Thalia's body and she froze, her blue eyes widening. "On second thought…there is something you can help me with."

Percy gave a small smile. "Oh? What would that be?"

"…I have to pee."

"…Fuck my life."

"What?" Thalia snapped, suddenly defensive. "It was going to come up sooner or later!"

"No…I'm not upset about that," her cousin admitted shyly.

Thalia furrowed her brows. "What is it, then?"

Percy blushed, scratching at his jean-clad thigh. "I sort of have to go now, too."

The child of Zeus cracked a smile. "That's so awkward."

The son of Poseidon bumped his cousin's shoulder playfully. "It wouldn't be us if it wasn't awkward."

Before either of them could say anything else, the shadow of a figure loomed over them. Thalia tilted her head up to see a determined Artemis. Gulping, she stood in front of her patron goddess. Artemis eyed her with no clear emotion, but gestured her closer.

Thalia hesitantly stepped forward. "What is it, my Lady?"

"I have come arrived at a conclusion," the goddess of the Hunt announced.

The child of Zeus swallowed nervously. "What would that conclusion happen to be?"

Artemis smiled almost sadly, and then turned to Percy. "Would you leave us a moment alone?"

Percy smiled, standing. "Sure," he said, nodding. He turned to Thalia. "I'll be wandering. I'll try not to go too far. Maybe I'll find out where the bathrooms are."

The son of Poseidon turned around and walked off before Thalia could reply. She watched him drift through the crowd of laughing dancers.

Artemis cleared her throat pointedly, calling upon Thalia's attention once again. The goddess had her thin, muscled arms crossed in front of her chest. "You are to return to Camp Half-Blood until we have found a cure. However, if it turns out that there is not an existing cure…I am allowing you to continue your service to me."

Thalia couldn't help but grin in surprise. "What? My Lady, are you serious? But I'm not a maiden."

Artemis fought off a smile. "If…and _only if _you show admirable restraint towards your fellow huntresses. You will be tested. Although the girls will not know of your identity, I am sending them to camp to join you. I have told Phoebe to keep an eye on you. You will no longer be my lieutenant, but I trust that I would be able to call upon you whenever I am in need. Until we discover if there is a cure, I am instructing you to hold onto your circlet."

Her fingers lightly brushed against the circlet in her back pocket. "Thank you, milady."

"Don't thank me," the goddess said. "Thank your own abilities. They will determine my acceptance, after all." Thalia nodded shakily, unable to dismiss her feelings of anxiety. "Now, I am sure you have noticed something off about your new body."

Thalia's sharp eyebrows furrowed. "Huh?"

Artemis rolled her eyes. "You appear much older than you should be. Have you not noticed?"

"Not really," the daughter of Zeus answered honestly. "I haven't looked at myself."

The Goddess of the Hunt smiled tightly. "Yes, well, when you were transformed into a…boy, you lost your immortality. When a huntress is expelled from the Hunt, she becomes the age she would typically be without interference. Unless I choose to award her otherwise, that is."

"So…I'm—"

"Seventeen," Artemis supplied helpfully. "Nearing eighteen. I decided to _grace_ you with that information," she said playfully, no doubt amused by her own pun. "I must be going. Farewell, Thalia."

"Goodbye, Artemis."

After the goddess left the area, the child of Zeus wasn't presented an opportunity to find Percy. Hera stood in front of her, Zeus to her immediate left. The Queen of the Gods eyed her distastefully—as she always did—but also with interest. Thalia's father shifted his stance, meeting her eyes bravely.

"Is there something to be said?" Thalia asked, keeping her voice as plain as possible.

Hera opened her mouth to speak, but her husband beat her to it. "I wish to know your intentions, if there happens to be no cure," Zeus stated plainly.

"Artemis said that, if I showed restraint or something like that, I can still assist the Hunt."

Hera snorted. "That's ridiculous! That's going against the very foundation of her existence. Is she not supposed to loathe all men?"

"I'm not a man," Thalia gritted her teeth. "Not on the inside."

"Gender is not determined by the inside," Hera snarled.

"Hera," Zeus cut the conversation off. "Please, darling." The Queen of the Gods glared at the two of them. "Thalia, tell me more about your plans. What will you do if you don't pass whatever tests Artemis has for you?"

Thalia frowned. She hadn't thought of that. Not really. It didn't once cross her mind that she might fail to meet the standards her patron goddess had set for her. What would she do? Could she just go back to her life at camp? She would be with old friends again—Annabeth, Connor, Grover, and Percy. But, that wasn't what she wanted, was it? Didn't she want to be in the Hunt? It's what she lived and fought for.

What life had she had outside of the Hunt? Before joining, she had felt insanely lost. After coming back into a different world—a world in which everything and everyone had grown on without her—she didn't know where she belonged. Luke had turned traitor, and Annabeth had developed into a beautiful teenager during her absence.

"I—I don't know," she admitted. She felt like retracting her statement when her father's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. He was obviously disappointed by her lack of decision and confidence. "I suppose I would have to go back to the life I lived before the Hunt."

"Is that what you want?" he pried.

"I don't know."

Zeus sighed. "Know with whatever decision you make, I will support you. I may not see sense in the choices you make, but I will try my hardest to accept them. Try and enjoy yourself here, Thalia. Drink some wine, dance with a couple of nymphs. Don't let your worries get the best of you."

Wine? He was allowing her to get drunk?

Without saying anything more, Hera and Zeus made their way to some godly acquaintances of theirs. Thalia shook her head, not quite wanting to believe her own misfortune. She walked through the mass of dancing figures, in search of her cousin. She found him dancing with some hunky god.

Thalia laughed her ass off as she worked her way towards Dionysus, asking him for a glass of wine. He eyed her strangely, grumbling to himself, before handing her a glass. After taking a long sip, she found that it didn't taste like most wine. It was less fruity than the ones she had sampled in the past, but it seemed more potent.

Percy heard the sound of her laughter, and shot her a hopeless look. The god was flirting with the son of Poseidon against his will, and the demigod looked close to tears. _Good, _Thalia thought to herself. It might teach the ass a lesson or two.

Her cousin quickly sprinted to her, the male god on his heels.

"Theseus, baby!" Percy shrieked girlishly, flinging his arms around her neck. Theseus? That's what he came up with? "I was just telling Acanthus here how you took me out for our anniversary."

What the fuck was wrong with Percy?

"Acanthus?" Thalia asked, eyeing the god suspiciously. When Percy tightened his hold, the daughter of Zeus didn't fight him off. She pulled his form closer to her protectively. He owed her big time for this. "That's strange. I don't think I'm familiar with you."

"Immortal son of Demeter and Hypnos," he provided, sending a slightly nervous smile. "I was wondering if I could perhaps borrow your consort. Merely for a dance, I assure you."

Percy sent her a glare, silently daring her to agree. Even though she would love to see him squirming uncomfortably with some god's arms wrapped around him, she shook her head. Acanthus began to turn red in the cheeks, but gave a swift nod before walking off to find another dance partner.

"Oh, good gods," the son of Poseidon exclaimed, letting his arms drop from around his cousin. He shivered as a display of disgust. "What a pig."

"That's not the most disturbing thing," Thalia disagreed. "I just sort of imagined Demeter and Hypnos getting it on."

"Ew!"

"So…about that bathroom thing."

Percy gulped, nodding quickly. "I'll lead the way."

After returning from the bathroom, they had found themselves dragged into a strange room. The two strong gods that had grabbed them marched off after tossing them into the room. Thalia gulped, glancing around nervously. Whenever a god grabbed someone, it was either to knock them up or get a favor from them. She wasn't looking forward to either.

Thalia looked to Percy. Then again, _she _wouldn't be the one getting knocked up, anyway.

Suddenly, four figures walked into the room. Three of them strutted to the far-side, making themselves comfortable on chairs. They were the Charities, the daughter of Zeus recognized. A goddess stood in front of them, smiling almost deviously.

Aphrodite clapped her hands together, slowly circling the two gender-swapped demigods. Thalia appeared as if she would wither under the goddess' gaze. Percy wasn't any better off—he was trying his best not to make eye contact with Aphrodite or any of her three assistances that were in the room.

"Thalia!"

The daughter-turned-son of Zeus instantly lifted her head in surprise. "Ma'am?"

"No, no," Aphrodite laughed. "I meant my lovely assistant." One of the three assistants stood, bowing before the goddess dutifully. Her silky black hair was tied in a high bun, and she wore a traditional chiton. "Fetch me something…hmm, _grungy_."

Grungy? Thalia mentally shrugged to herself. The goddess could do worse. She was just satisfied that she wasn't being forced to wear flowery clothing or anything.

Soon, the Charis returned with a handful of clothing and a pair of boots. She sat them down in front of her goddess, instantly walking back towards her chair. Aphrodite looked over the garments and smiled widely, obviously approving of the choice.

"Thalia, here! Let's try these on you," the goddess insisted, tossing them toward the daughter of Zeus. Thalia was going to leave the room, but Aphrodite quickly stopped her. "Oh, please! Don't flatter yourself. You have nothing we have not seen before! Undress here."

Thalia cheeks flushed, but she quickly obeyed. As she dressed, the goddess of love turned toward her companion. Percy gulped visibly, surely fearing the outfit he was going to be given. Aphrodite merely looked at him a second before snapping her fingers. Her assistant Aglaea hurriedly obliged, standing in front of the goddess.

"Get me something fairly casual for our new maiden," she ordered, smiling at Percy in amusement. He fumed silently, but didn't dare say anything.

Aglaea was quicker than Thalia, arriving with the outfit before any of them could bat an eyelash. She smiled at Aphrodite before returning to her sisters. Percy turned crimson as he was forced to change clothes in front of the daughter of Zeus along with four immortals.

Thalia wiped at the thighs of her ripped dark jeans, ashamed of being forced to try on new clothes in front of others. Thankfully, Percy's clothes weren't a far cry from what he typically wore—a plain tee-shirt, jeans, and sneakers.

Her clothing was only slightly different than what she usually wore. Paired with her distressed black jeans, she was given a gray tee-shirt and a leather jacket. She was satisfied with what the goddess had given her, but the combat boots were kind of uncomfortable.

Aphrodite narrowed her eyes. "I'm sorry. Would you like to find clothes on your own? Perhaps I shouldn't have bothered to offer my assistance."

Thalia shook her head wildly, feeling the Charities glare her down. "No, no! Really, I appreciate it."

The goddess clapped her hands together once again. "Wondrous!"

Thalia hid her frustrated pout. She was so not looking forward to going back to camp. How were they possibly going to make it through this?


	3. Dionysus Gets Sassy

**AN: In the reviews, some of you said that it seemed as if I had implied Perlia. I had, but only for the sole purpose of providing an awkward attraction between the two. So, while they may approve of each other's bodies and looks, they don't feel romantically for one another. The attraction allowed for a better description of their appearances. Also, Percy and Thalia are beginning to show slight differences in personality and whatnot, but there is a reason for that. The pairing for Thalia is decided, but not for Percy. **

**Feel free to provide feedback and let me know what you thought of this chapter. **

**Dedicated to little red cardigan, for reasons that will become obvious to her.  
**

**Warning: Bad, bad language. Baaaaaad. Oh, and probably about seventy grammatical errors.**

**Disclaimer: I do not, will not, shall not, own the PJO series.**

* * *

**The Distortion of Destiny**

* * *

**Dionysus Gets Sassy**

Annabeth sat at her cabin's table at lunch, flipping through a collection of renowned classical blueprints. She had yet to decide what route of action she wanted to take towards crafting a cabin for the goddess Nike. Perhaps she could have it forged of some metals that represented victory and competition, such as gold or silver...or possibly bronze. She erased the small line of notes she had scribbled down in the margin of one of the blueprints.

"That won't do," she murmured to herself, shaking her head.

"Ooh!" one of her sisters crooned from her left, smiling dreamily as she gazed out into the pavilion. "Who is _that_, and why isn't he in my pants yet?"

Annabeth twisted her features in disgust, looking up to frown at her fourteen-year-old sister. "Please, Claire," she remarked, "at least try and behave like you're a sensible human being. We don't need that kind of talk circulating around our breakfast table. We're children of Athena."

"Children of Athena have eyes, last I checked," Claire replied, not taking any offense to her sister's lecturing. "And, if you laid eyes on that hunk over there I'm sure you would agree."

"Whatever, you're always checking out some guy," the architect mumbled, reviewing her blueprints once again. "I wonder when Percy and Thalia are coming back. They were supposed to be back yesterday, but they're off schedule. We were going to go out to dinner."

"I'm sure they will turn up," Malcolm said as he took a seat across from her. "You know how quests are with those two. They take forever."

Annabeth raised a brow, smirking. "Are you planning to file a complaint, Mal?"

Her brother shrugged, drizzling ketchup onto his eggs. Annabeth grimaced at the sight. "Maybe," he replied jokingly. "So, do you think they ran away together or something?"

The daughter of Athena began to laugh. "Please. Thalia couldn't handle Seaweed Brain for longer than, like, five minutes. They're sort of close, but definitely not like that. Don't you think?"

It killed her because she almost felt like she had to push herself to worry about her boyfriend. She couldn't explain why, but she just didn't feel a strong connection with him anymore. It seemed that he had been slowly drifting away from her, whether he realized it or not.

As usual, her brother had heard the slight doubt that tinged her voice. Malcolm shook his head, smiling. "You worry too much, Annabeth. I was only joking. Besides, Thalia would never do that to you. Percy wouldn't either. They're both far too loyal."

"Like puppies," Claire agreed, taking a sip of her orange juice.

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "I won't tell Thalia you compared her to a puppy if you clean the cabin tonight."

"Deal," her sister readily agreed.

* * *

Chiron stared at them in shock. The two demigods sat on a couch in the Big House, fidgeting beneath his gaze. They were all silent—they had been since Percy had confessed everything. When the wise teacher had yet to say anything for five minutes, the half-bloods grew even more worried. Would he kick them out? Would he believe them?

"Percy, Thalia," Chiron whispered. With two simple words, all of the anxious tension was released from the room.

"Dad is making me go by Thadeus," Thalia said, pouting like a child. Percy thought it looked strange. She had only pouted before whenever she wanted to get her way with Annabeth. "I didn't want to change my name. I guess it could have been much worse, though. He was struggling between Thurmond and Theodore."

"What about you, Percy?" Chiron asked, almost hesitantly. "Have you been given a new—"

"Temporary," Thalia corrected.

"—name?"

Percy sighed. "I haven't thought about it. My father didn't pick me a name like Zeus did for Thalia."

"Lucky," his cousin muttered.

"What about Persis?" Chiron suggested quietly.

The son of Poseidon shook his head, watching long black locks wave in front of his face. It took him a while to realize they were his own, and he quickly brushed them behind his ear. "It's too obvious, isn't it?"

"Phoebe?" Thalia proposed, a small smile dancing on her naturally red lips.

Phoebe was one of the strongest of the Hunters of Artemis, and had been one of the demigoddess' closest companions. Even though Phoebe was one of the few—the other two being Zoë and Artemis herself— that risked challenging Thalia's authority, they were friendly with one another.

Percy remembered her only vaguely. The Stoll brothers had coated a shirt with centaur blood and given it to her, under orders from Aphrodite. She was supposed to go with Zoë and Bianca on their quest to save their patron goddess, but the poisoning had prevented her from doing so. From what the son of Poseidon recalled, he knew that Phoebe was pretty violent and hostile towards males.

He shook his head. He couldn't take her name. It wasn't out of disrespect or anything. He just didn't want to complicate things. With the Hunter arriving to camp shortly, he preferred to stay on the safe side. He needed a quick and simple, _temporary _name.

"How about something that has to do with the ocean?" Thalia suggested, although her tone clearly implied that she had no names in mind. Besides maybe _water_, Percy thought sarcastically.

"Azura?" Chiron helpfully asked. "Or, what about Pearl?"

Percy shook his head. "No…I think it would be safest if we go with a name that sounds enough like Percy. Then, we could get away with some minor slip-ups. You know what I mean?"

Thalia nodded slowly. "Pandora? Portia? Priscilla?" She suddenly laughed. "Hey, if you go by Priscilla, Clarisse can still call you Prissy."

All of the names she had listed were good names—beautiful, even—but he still wasn't sure. He was leaning toward Priscilla, until Thalia had pointed out that Clarisse would be able to taunt him.

The child of Zeus tilted her head to the side in thought, obviously fighting off a smirk. "On second thought, you sort of look like a Persia."

Persia.

The son of Poseidon smiled. He liked it. He didn't know why, but he did. If Thalia or Chiron were to accidentally call him by his actual name, it could easily be covered up. Even if the Persians were enemies to the Greeks, he really, truly liked it.

"Looks like we have a winner," Thalia snickered, applauding slowly and tauntingly. "Finally." Chiron wouldn't meet their eyes, and the demigods instantly felt themselves tense. "What?" the demigoddess-turned-demigod asked. "What's wrong, Chiron?"

"I am not too fond of the name Persia," the wise centaur admitted reluctantly. He looked to Percy hopelessly. "Are you sure you wouldn't like to go by another name, child?"

Thalia started laughing again, causing the two others in the room to glance at her curiously. "You should take the name Pandalene. We can call you Panda."

Percy glared at his cousin, but Chiron chose to ignore the childish comment. The centaur frowned in concentration. "Parisa?" their teacher suggested. "It is Persian in origin."

"No, no, no!" the daughter of Zeus argued immediately, before Percy even got a say in anything. "Penthea. He looks like a Penthea. Then I can call him Pinhead."

The son of Poseidon grumbled curses under his breath. It sounded like an old woman's name. He sometimes hated his cousin. "Fine," he consented. "I'll just go by that, then. But if I end up having to stay this way, I'm freaking changing it to something I like."

"What about last names?" Chiron asked next.

Thalia's bright blue eyes widened comically. "Last names? Oh, shit. I don't even like the one I have now."

"You only need one just in case. If someone were to ask you, what would you say is your last name?"

"Lindbrook," Thalia answered quickly. "I—I lived on that street for a while."

Percy stared at her blankly. "Might just want to go with Brooks," Chiron said, flashing an almost sheepish expression. Thalia shrugged, turning her gaze to her boots.

"Hanson," the son of Poseidon said, nodding to himself in approval. "It was my grandmother's maiden name."

Chiron stroked the amount of facial hair he had on his chin. "Very well, children. I will escort you to your room."

"Room?" Thalia asked, her expression blank and unreadable. "As in, we are sharing a room?"

Chiron nodded slowly, cautiously. "The two of you have no interest in one another. I do not think there is any reason to fear you sharing a room. Unless there is something you aren't saying?"

Percy snorted. "I have a girlfriend, Chiron."

Wait…did that make him a lesbian? He mentally debated the thought. He didn't see anything strange about that.

Thalia rolled her eyes. "It's not that. I am just so not looking forward to spending time with this loser."

"Uh, that's funny. I'm pretty sure you are forced to spend time with yourself."

Ignoring Percy's comment, the daughter of Zeus followed their wise mentor up a set of stairs. He clumsily scaled up after them, nearly tripping over the very first step. Thalia turned to smirk at him haughtily, and he predicted she would have said something mocking if Chiron weren't present.

Percy stared straight ahead, not wanting to see any creepy pictures on the wall, if there were any. Mr. D could be a real creep with his decor sometimes.

Eventually, they entered their room. It was sizable, but nothing too extravagant. It had plenty of room for the both of them, and they each enjoyed their space. Chiron traveled to the center of the room and looked down on them both. Percy wouldn't dare say it out loud, but he still thought it was kind of strange that the guy was half-horse.

"I assume that the gods did not tell you the story of Tiresias?" the centaur asked reluctantly. When all he received were blanks stares, he sighed and gestured for them to take a seat at the foot of the bed. "Tiresias was blinded, with the gift of clairvoyance, but we won't go into that. It is said that he encountered two snakes…well, _copulating_," Thalia and Percy grimaced at this, "and he made the mistake of hitting the snakes with a stick."

Thalia scowled. "Are you shitting me?" He fixed her with a stern look. "Uh, I mean, are you _kidding _me? Why would he see two snakes doing it, and then beat them with a stick? That's so stupid. They were minding their own business."

"It is a story from long before your time," Chiron reminded his student patiently.

Percy frowned. "That makes no sense. What did those snakes do to him?"

"It doesn't have to make sense," the centaur said. "After he did that, Queen Hera transformed him into a woman."

All Percy could figure is that the guy had deserved it. He could have walked past the snakes or something. Why had he decided to fucking club them? He didn't think that Ancient Greeks made any sense at all.

"Hah!" Thalia exclaimed suddenly, turning to Percy with a look of pride on her face. "Hera is behind this. Who called it?"

The son of Poseidon rolled his eyes. "Way to jump the gun, Thalia. Let Chiron finish his story."

"I…I am sure that Lady Hera had nothing to do with this particular incident," Chiron said. "Do not misconstrue my words, Thalia…or rather, _Thadeus_."

Percy couldn't help but look at his cousin smugly. Thalia wasn't paying attention to him, though. She was suddenly intent on knowing the rest of the tale. "So, what happened to the dude next?" she asked.

Chiron's eyes shifted from the ground to the wall, and his cheeks were lightly colored. "Well, he became a prostitute of some sorts, according to rumor."

The demigods erupted into laughter, but Percy quickly sobered up, his own curiosity striking him on the head. "Wait…does this mean that Thalia and I are going to have to…?"

"Gods, no, Kelp Head," the daughter of Zeus cried indignantly, swatting Percy roughly on the arm. "You're such an idiot. We aren't living in Ancient Greece anymore. That won't ever happen to us." Then, she looked to Chiron, unsure. "Right?"

The centaur couldn't help but smile at their silly worry. "Right. Now, are you two willing to hear the rest?" The demigods nodded eagerly. "He married and produced children. He also stated, in order to conclude an argument with Hera and Zeus, that women got the most sexual pleasure. That's one of the reasons why his story is popular. Anyway, one day, after nearly seven years, he happened to stumble upon two mating snakes again. Rather than beat them, Tiresias decided to leave them be. In turn, his curse was lifted from him, and his former body was returned to him."

"All we have to do is watch snakes do it, and then we'll be cured?" Percy questioned. From the looks the other two sent him, he came to the conclusion that he had probably gotten the wrong message from the story. "Uh, never mind."

Chiron blinked slowly. "Very well…um, Penthea," he said, resisting the urge to smile whenever Percy visibly cringed. "I thought that you two deserved to hear of Tiresias' story." His eyes twinkled, almost mischievously. "You never know what sort of inspiration it might strike within you."

Without another word, the centaur softly galloped his way out of the room. Percy wondered how he didn't tumble down the stairs on a regular basis.

He turned around on the bed to see Thalia lounging back against the headboard, flipping through one of the books from the nightstand. He scooted back until he was as high up as she was, but he left plenty of room between them.

Percy knew she couldn't have been reading that monstrosity. It must have had pictures in it or something. He sighed, causing his cousin to glance up at him. "I guess we need to get into the habit of calling each other by our aliases."

"Probably so, Pinhead," she replied, gaining a frustrated noise from him.

"What was with that accent, anyway?" he asked her, realizing that she had spoken strangely.

She shrugged. "I thought it was a nice touch."

"Well, it wasn't."

"Don't be an ass, Pinhead."

"Stop calling me that, _Thaddy the Fatty_."

His cousin didn't respond to him. She continued to flip through the novel in her hands, but she was turning the pages way too fast. It was obvious that she was just scanning the contents of each page. He wondered why, but he chose not to say anything. He didn't want to annoy her even further. Whether he liked it or not, she had more weight on him now and she could probably sit on him and hold him down.

Percy made a decision then and there. If he was supposed to get into the habit of referring to Thalia by her alias, then he had to start thinking of her as what she was now—a _he_. In the same way, he had to get it through his skull that he was now a _she_, and he needed to start telling himself that. Percy…Penthea was sure that Thadeus was already doing the same.

Penthea released a breath. She could do this. She could get used to this. It was only until they were cured, after all. If they did find a cure…

Ugh, Penthea was too much of a mouthful for her, though. Wasn't there anything shorter she could go by? Something that was two-syllables and not Pinhead?

"Thal—Thadeus," she caught herself. The son of Zeus didn't instantly peer up from the book, and Penthea was forced to say his name again. He was obviously not used to hearing it yet. "Besides Pinhead, what is something shorter for my name? I don't like how it sounds."

Thadeus frowned in thought. "Uh…" he drawled out, arching a dark brow. "Penny?"

The daughter of Poseidon smiled widely. Penny…she liked that. She was starting to think that Penthea hadn't been too bad of a name after all, seeing as she was still able to have a shorter name to go by. "Yeah," she said to her cousin. "Penny is great. Thanks for the help."

Thadeus mumbled his reply before turning back to the book. Seriously, what was so interesting about that?

Penny tried to stay still and maybe take a nap, but her body wasn't prepared to settle down. She groaned in irritation. "Thad, let's get out. Let's do something fun."

"Fun?" the son of Zeus repeated slowly, a smirk stretching his lips. "You're not having fun here? I am definitely finding the fun."

Penny rolled her eyes. "You're such a dick."

"Well, now I have one, so it makes sense," he reasoned.

The daughter of Poseidon scoffed, shaking her head at her cousin's comment. He had made slightly obscene jokes as a female, but it was only magnified now. She noticed that a lot had changed about Thadeus—about both of them, in fact. She felt calmer than she had once been, as strange as that was. And, she could tell that the son of Zeus was even more sarcastic and cunning than he was before. They were only minor differences, of course, but Penny still found it odd that little things could change with a gender swap.

Penny thought about how things would be if they discovered that the curse was irreversible. Would she be able to integrate back into her old life? She did not want to even consider the idea of ending things with Annabeth—she was her best friend, after all. There was also the chance that she would decide to find love again. Penny didn't have any interest in anyone besides the daughter of Athena, but maybe that could have changed along with her gender. She knew it sounded stupid, but with different hormones and all, it wouldn't be that unusual.

How would Thadeus be in a relationship? Would he even try and find love if he were not allowed in the Hunt? What type of boyfriend would he be anyway? Not that Penny was particularly interested—she wasn't—but she just wanted her friend to be able to find happiness. Sons of Zeus didn't have the best dating reputation, and it was hard for her to imagine the previous _Thalia _that way. Somehow, Thadeus seemed more likely than his former self to string people around in relationships. Penny didn't know why she got that vibe, but it was undeniable. He was attractive, very much so, but his attitude had become somewhat more roguish. He was twice as abrasive, and he had already shown his snide side.

Thadeus broke the silence. "Don't you think you should call Sally and let her know what happened?"

Penny sighed. She hadn't even begun to think about what her mother would say. It sounded ridiculous, even to her own ears, but she couldn't bite back the fear that Sally might not accept her. She knew her mother wasn't like that, but it was a sudden insecurity she just couldn't rid herself of. What of Paul? He had never struck Penny as a close-minded person, but they weren't all that close.

"I know I have to, but I don't want to."

Thadeus still didn't glance up from that damn book. "Sally is the greatest. Don't stress it, man."

His careless words didn't soothe her in the least. Penny lifted herself from the bed and swung her legs off the side. "I'm going to call her," she said briskly, getting up from the soft sheets and marching into the bathroom.

Once inside, she shut the door. Instead of Iris-messaging, like she had planned to do before, Penny pulled out her cell phone and dialed her home number. Her mother, as always, answered before the phone could ring a third time.

"Hello," Sally's friendly voice chirped. "Jackson—uh, Blofis residence."

Penny smiled at the slip-up. Her mother was still getting used to being married. After going by Jackson for her entire life, even throughout her marriage with that asshole Gabe, it had been a difficult change.

"Hey," the daughter of Poseidon breathed into the phone finally.

"Annabeth?" Sally guessed, and Penny could practically see her brown eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Is that you? You sound different."

"It's…it's not Annabeth," the demigoddess admitted hesitantly. "Mom…it's me. Percy. Your son."

"What?"

"Thalia and I went on a quest together to retrieve an item of Hecate, and we incidentally cursed ourselves," Penny said with great reluctance, not wanting to imagine the shocked expression her mother was most likely sporting. "We swapped genders."

"Honey…" Sally seemed to be holding her breath. "Baby…are you messing with me?"

"No, Mom," the daughter of Poseidon said, shaking her head even though her mother couldn't see her. "I'm being honest. I swear to you. I wouldn't joke about something like this."

Sally released the large breath she had been holding. "Does your father know?"

"Yeah. He was one of the first to know about it. We had to deliver the item to Olympus, so we stopped by the Throne Room to find out what was going on."

"Oh, for the love of…" Her voice wasn't angry. Penny had half of a mind to ask if her mother was still breathing. There was silence on the other line for the longest time, but the daughter of Poseidon forced herself to remain patient. "This is unbelievable."

"I know, Mom," Penny replied quietly. "I know."

"You're coming home soon."

"I'll visit, yeah."

"I believe you, Percy, but I would really rather see you with my own eyes. And, you may invite Thalia over. I want to see her too, and make sure she's all right. She's one of those people that keep their emotions bottled up, and I don't want her to be too hard on herself."

"I understand," the demigoddess responded. "And, Mom?" She could hear Sally's anxiety on the other end of the call. "I am going by Penthea, or Penny until we get this whole situation figured out. Lord Zeus picked out the name Thadeus for Thalia. No one at camp besides Chiron and Mr. D know about it."

"That's something to get used to," Sally sighed. "Whatever happens, you'll always be my baby." Penny couldn't help but smile, now regretting not IM'ing her mother. She wanted to see her. "I love you. Keep in touch."

"Love you, too, Mom," her daughter responded warmly. "Thank you for…you know. I'll talk to you later."

"Bye, Per—Penthea."

With a click, the call was ended. The child of Poseidon exhaled heavily, turning and leaning back against the bathroom counter. Penny was so busy focusing on her breathing that she didn't notice the bathroom door open. She jumped when Thadeus cleared his throat, and glared at him whenever he smirked at her reaction. He was leaning against the open door casually, his arms crossed over his firm chest.

"I take it things went well?" Thadeus asked.

"Do you always have to be so nosy?" Penny retorted, although she wasn't that angry about his eavesdropping.

"Believe me, I would never choose to hear your voice," the son of Zeus replied smoothly. "You were talking so loud that it was hard for me to concentrate on the book."

They exited the bathroom together, closing the door behind them. They made their way back across the hall and into their shared room. Penny didn't know how Thadeus had managed to hear her all the way across the corridor, but she decided that she wasn't going to bring it up.

"What's in that book anyway?" she found herself asking. She doubted he would tell her, but she still couldn't restrain her curiosity.

Thadeus closed their bedroom door firmly once they entered. He surprised her by answering, "It's a book all about magic."

"Magic?"

The son of Zeus nodded. "Yeah, mostly the spells used throughout Ancient civilization. I can't say it is particularly interesting, but I was thinking it might help us out. We need to find out as much as we can about the spell in order to reverse it."

"The gods are taking care of it, Thad."

The demigod shook his head. "You do not get it, Penny. I can't just sit around and let the _gods _do all the work. We got ourselves into this mess, and we should be putting in all the effort we can."

"They made it clear that they didn't want us involved in searching for a cure," Penthea remarked, silently wondering why he didn't take the vacation pass. Then again, his former self had always loathed sitting still and doing nothing. Penny could relate, but she wasn't so eager to go interrupting the business of the Olympians.

"If you don't want to help, then you don't have to," Thadeus commented carelessly in reply. "But don't dare to stand in my way."

Penny wanted to scoff, but she didn't. She could tell that her cousin honestly wanted to help the gods—help himself. He probably felt helpless, just sitting around and waiting for a verdict. Thadeus was the type of person who wanted to get things done as soon as possible, and he wanted to do everything for himself. He hated feeling dependent.

The daughter of Poseidon didn't mind seeming dependent occasionally. She thought everyone was to some extent. The only person she had ever seen work perfectly fine on their own was Thadeus. On the other hand, she thought that everyone needed someone else's help eventually. If he kept his attitude up, he was going to give himself a stroke. She was beginning to doubt his aspirations for a life after the Hunt.

"I'll always help you, Sparky," Penny said, taking a seat on the bed and picking up the novel. Her sea green eyes scanned the pages, delighted to see that it was all written in Ancient Greek. "I may not like what you want to do, but you know I'll be by your side."

"I'm touched, really," Thadeus remarked, trying to play the nice comment off sarcastically. Penny rolled her eyes, but didn't call him out on it. "Now, I found a curse that looked somewhat similar."

"Show it to me."

Thadeus grabbed the book and began to flip through the pages, but then Chiron popped into the room and informed them that dinner was going to be served. After saying that they were to sit with him, the wise centaur backed out of the room.

The son of Zeus flung the book on the comforter and sighed. He ran a hand through his shaggy black hair. "Great," he said. "I'll show you after dinner, then."

Penny smiled at him. "Yeah, okay."

* * *

Thadeus visibly paled whenever they had finished sacrificing some of their food and sat down at Chiron's table. It seemed as if every camper, dryad, and satyr were studying them, but that wasn't why the son of Zeus was so shaky. Eyes darker than night met his and he shuddered slightly before quickly glancing away. Why hadn't Chiron told them that the Hunters of Artemis had arrived?

Some of the huntresses had caught him looking over, and they all sent him the most hateful glares they could muster. He couldn't help but smirk—honestly, he tried not to. But, he had to watch them freak out over a cockroach invading their tents once, and it was hard to find them very intimidating. Their glares only became more spiteful, but he turned his attention to his food.

He had gotten a rare steak, an abundance of fries, and a heaping serving of green beans. Looking at Penny's plate, he realized that he might have overdone it a little bit. Shit, though, he was freaking starved!

He still felt Zoë's eyes on him while he ate, as well as Phoebe's, but it was to be expected. Artemis had warned him that her girls would be keeping a close eye on him and judging his behavior. It was slightly annoying him, but if two pretty girls would be constantly looking at him, who would he be to complain?

Penny tensed up beside him. "Thad…why are they looking at us like we're dog turds?"

"Because that's how they see us," he answered simply. "It's the way hunters think, man. Not to bash them or anything, but some of them have a habit of thinking they're better than everyone that isn't in the Hunt."

"Oh…well that actually explains a lot, believe it or—"

Before Penny could finish her sentence, a full dinner was thrown onto her shirt. With shocked eyes, she raised her chin to see two smug children of Ares—Mark and Sherman.

"Hey, newbies!" Sherman greeted before he walked closer to Thadeus, attempting to do the same with his dinner. With a firm flick of the older demigod's wrist, the plate launched itself onto the two sons of Ares. Their faces grew extremely red as everyone in the pavilion suddenly glanced over at them.

"You little cunt!" Mark yelled.

Before Chiron could break it up, Thadeus stood from his seat calmly. He paused in front of Mark, eyeing him distastefully. "Little?"

Even though the troublemakers were sons of the God of War, Thadeus towered over them.

"Listen, assholes. I'm going to tell you exactly what the fuck is going to happen. You're going to apologize to this…_sweet _young lady," he ordered, pointing to Penny, "and then you're going to apologize to Chiron for causing a disturbance in the first goddamn place. Lastly, and this is my favorite part, you're going to go back to your table and _shut the fuck up_. Do I make myself clear?"

"Go to hell, dick," Sherman snapped, even though he was obviously disturbed by Thadeus' size and threats. "We don't take orders from you. We don't take orders from anyone."

Campers were whispering rapidly, but they instantly quieted down as soon as Mr. D stood from the table. His bloodshot blue eyes appeared tired and annoyed, which wasn't out of the usual, and his curly black hair almost looked purple when the sun reflected off of it.

"Sherri, Maurice," he began, firmly setting down his can of Diet Coke. "I suggest you start minding your betters. Now, I'm sure you boys know as well as I do that you approached this table looking for trouble. Well, you've found it. Bathroom, kitchen, and stable cleaning for the both of you. Get the hell out of my sight."

Everyone stared on the scene in shock, with the exception of the Hunters, who merely appeared slightly interested. The sons of Ares scurried off after the god flashed them another irritated glance. Dionysus took his seat once more, taking a long sip of his soda. He peered up at Thadeus. "Sit down, boy," he ordered, although he didn't sound very angry. "If you don't eat what's in front of you, you can join the two losers."

The son of Zeus cautiously sat back down, feeling the many stares on his back as he did so. Attention was never really something that bothered him, as he got it from many—c'mon, child of Zeus—but it was this kind of attention that disturbed him. He felt his anxiety rise, and he tried to suppress it by stuffing his mouth full of delicious food. Penny was smiling at him widely, but he had no idea why. It only served to make him more nervous.

He exhaled softly, taking a sip of his ice-cold cola. Penny took off her shirt next to him, revealing the white tank top she had underneath. She sat her meatloaf-covered shirt on the bench beside her, scooting farther away from it.

Thadeus gripped his fork so tightly he thought he would break it in half. He wanted nothing more than to chase those cowardly sons of Ares down and kick their asses, but he reasoned with himself that it wasn't worth it. Then, he would look like the bad guy, and that was the last thing he wanted. He had to impress the Hunters, even if it meant he had to swallow down his pride every time.


	4. Being the Bad Guy

**AN: **This story is under Percy and Thalia because they are the MAIN characters in the story; therefore, both of their names should be listed along with the summary. No offence, but I'm not going to put one of their names there and neglect the other. I've even written in the summary, because so many were confused, that it is NOT a Perlia. I love that pairing, and I appreciate those who are reading this even though they are Percy/Thalia shippers, but this story is not going to fall under that pairing.

**Thank you all for the reviews and alerts for the last chapter! Hope you enjoy this one just as much.**

**Warning: Shirtless male!Thalia. Whew.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJatO at all.**

* * *

**The Distortion of Destiny**

* * *

**Being the Bad Guy**

The Hunters were watching him everywhere. If he looked to the left, they followed his gaze critically. Their harsh eyes bore into his back, and he silently wondered if Artemis had instructed _all _of them to observe him. He had sworn that he heard her say that Phoebe would be the only one keeping tabs on him.

Thadeus sighed, shaking his head. What was he expecting, really? The Hunters did _everything _together.

It was just after dinner and he and Penny were on their way back to the Big House. He saw a flash of dirty blonde before Phoebe was standing in front of them, all of her huntresses behind her. Her sharp hazel eyes searched his, but he couldn't stop himself from turning his head and glancing into Zoë's. The rest of the huntresses were immediately disturbed, but Zoë just stared back at him with faint recognition. He could tell that he looked familiar to her, but she didn't look as if she had figured it out. He was honestly surprised because Zoë was the smartest person he knew. She had literately seen pretty much everything.

"We saw what you did at lunch," Phoebe started, her tone almost accusing him. "Why did you stand up for your friend here?" She pointed to Penny, whose jaw had long been pried from the ground.

"That's just it," Thadeus said, just as feisty. "She's my friend."

One of the newest hunters, who Thadeus recognized as Astrid, a mortal, scoffed loudly. "What, is she not capable of taking care of herself?"

"Quiet!" Zoë snapped before the son of Zeus could muster up an angry retort. Her black eyes searched his, but he couldn't guess what she was looking for. Her lips turned downward in an almost disgusted frown before she turned her gaze to Penny. "How fare thee?"

The daughter of Poseidon furrowed her brows in confusion. "I'm sorry?"

"She means to ask you how you are," the demigod clarified for her, receiving glares from the girls once more. He rolled his eyes. "Oh, so now I can't explain something to my friend?"

"My Lady instructed me to keep an eye on you," Phoebe stated with disdain. "I haven't a clue as to why she would ask us to watch a _boy_, but know that we will be watching you. Closely. Everything that you do while the Hunters are at camp will be monitored by me."

"I don't care who told you to watch me. You don't have any right to make demands of me."

Penny sighed heavily, grabbing onto Thadeus' forearm. "Thad, just let it go. You know that they are under orders from Artemis." The son of Zeus gritted his teeth in anger, but nodded.

Phoebe and Zoë smirked victoriously, turning around to face their girls. "We will make our leave," Zoë commanded. The Hunters walked off towards their cabin, not bothering to glance back at the _boy _they had just confronted.

Thadeus scoffed, shaking his head, allowing Penny to finish leading him to the Big House. They made their way into their room, surprised to see a redheaded girl casually reclining in the bed. The son of Zeus raised an eyebrow at the display, clearing his throat.

The redhead didn't bother glancing up, but he could see a faint smile on her freckled face. He recognized her from somewhere, but he couldn't think of her name. He had a feeling that he had only encountered her once or twice, or had merely heard of her in the past. She didn't look as fit or athletic as the average demigod, so he would guess that she was mortal. But what would a mortal be doing at camp?

"Rachel?" Penny asked, confused. "What are you doing in here?"

Oh, of course. Rachel Elizabeth Dare, the new Oracle. Thadeus had to admit that she was a much more pleasant sight than an old hippie corpse.

He recalled spotting her during the Battle of Manhattan, but he had never really talked to her before. According to Annabeth, who had once loathed the girl, she was an annoying, frizzy-haired girl that had a crush on Percy. He didn't know why, but the thought of that really disturbed him. Rachel wasn't nearly as bad as he expected. She was beautiful, really, and she appeared fairly kind.

"Hello, Percy," she spoke cheerily, finally sitting up completely to look at them. The demigods were caught off guard when she acknowledged Penny by her previous identity. "Yes, I know all about that. Don't worry, guys, I don't plan to tell."

"How—how did you know?" Thadeus asked, feeling suddenly vulnerable. And he _never _felt that way. But for some reason…with her knowing their secret, his nerves were going crazy. "Who told you?"

"I had a dream about it," the redhead said as if it were the simplest thing ever. "Oracle, remember?"

"Oh. Right." Thadeus scratched the back of his neck uncomfortably. "So…what are you doing here?"

"Thalia," Rachel addressed smoothly. "They told me you didn't have much tact. I was starting to doubt it…but hey, that's cool. Percy always had that problem, too. I like to think that I'm a pretty understanding person."

Thadeus arched an eyebrow. "If you're in on this…which kind of pisses me off…you might as well call us by our new names."

"Those would be?" Rachel asked, amused instead of angered.

"Thadeus," the son of Zeus supplied. He pointed to his cousin. "Penny."

The Oracle nodded, giving them both a smile. "All right," she approved, hopping off of the bed and approaching them. She stood directly in front of Thadeus, and he had to guess that she was a good eight inches shorter than him. "Well, I just wanted to affirm the dream."

Before either of them could say anything, she was already hurrying out of the door. The daughter of Poseidon shrugged, kicking off her shoes, walking to the bed and climbing under the covers. The demigod followed her example shortly after, tossing off his leather jacket, shaking his head at the behavior of the redhead. He lifted the book once more, taking the time to flip to the page they had been trying to get to earlier.

"All right, here it is," he said, roughly nudging Penny to get her attention. He supposed that he had used too much force than he intended, because she nearly fell off the bed. He frowned, sending her an apologetic look as he pulled her closer to the middle of the bed. "Right there. The passage at the bottom."

She took the novel from him, beginning to read the words he had indicated. He watched as her lips stretched downwards and her wide eyes sifted through the passage. "A vindictive curse?"

Thadeus nodded. "Get this—there are no known cases of anyone accidentally switching their genders. They never brought it on themselves. There was always another force involved in the curse—a divine being. See, like here, Scythians invaded a temple of Venus, and the goddess turned them into women as punishment for their plundering." He pointed to another section of the passage. "And here, it says that women and men who felt like another gender on the inside were to be punished by going through a physical change. Divine beings—goddesses more often than not—would either force men to castrate themselves or trick them into bathing in mystical waters."

"Thadeus…" Penny trailed off, shaking her head in slight doubt. "I don't know about this. Just because it isn't here doesn't mean that we didn't curse ourselves."

"Think about it, Pen," he spoke, almost excitedly. "How could two demigods activate a goddess' magical item? We can't operate every god's symbol of power. If that were the case, then anyone could use weapons of the gods. You could use my father's master bolt, I could use Poseidon's trident." He slammed his palm on the bed. "It makes no sense at all. I know there is more to it than what the gods are telling us."

"You think they're keeping something from us?"

"I know they are," Thadeus corrected.

"Well…it wouldn't be unlike them," Penny admitted reluctantly. "But, Thad, it isn't like we can do anything about it. I honestly don't think that we were cursed by anyone. I mean, what could we have done to offend anyone?"

"Besides exist?" the son of Zeus hummed to himself sarcastically. "Gee, I'm not sure."

"You're just being paranoid."

"Maybe so," Thadeus snapped, angrily tossing the book across the bedroom. "But I would rather be paranoid than ignorant."

"Thadeus…"

"What?" he spat.

"I wish you wouldn't be so angry with me," Penny responded quietly, not allowing her voice to rise. She obviously didn't wish to start an argument.

The son of Zeus threw the blankets off of his body and stood from the bed. He slipped his feet into his boots, throwing his leather jacket back on.

"Where are you going?" his cousin asked him, irritated.

"Away from you," Thadeus replied briskly. His cousin argued with him, but the sound of her voice was drowned out by the anger coursing through his veins. He just couldn't explain anything to her, could he? He knew what was going on. He knew the gods were hiding the fact that someone else had did this to them. He angrily walked over to the door and threw it open, not even bothering to glance back at Penny. "Bye."

The son of Zeus didn't know where he planned on going, really. The only other places he knew to stay at were his father's cabin and the cabin belonging to his patron goddess, Artemis. He knew he shouldn't try to stay in either. More than anything, he just needed a place that he could cool off. After quietly sneaking out of the Big House, he began to make his way towards the infirmary. He had nothing better to do, so he figured that he'd better check on Nico.

By the time he got to the infirmary, he could already hear the distant screeching of harpies. He rolled his eyes. If he had a penny for every time he succeeded in avoiding those goddamn things, he would be as rich as his mother was before her career fell through.

He walked to the very back of the room, knowing that was where his younger cousin would be. He hoped Nico was asleep so he wouldn't be forced to give him some made-up story. His mother may have been an actress, but he had always been a terrible liar.

He was glad that there was now an extended infirmary outside of the Big House, though. There were much more campers to be concerned with now, seeing as minor gods were now permitted to have their children stay in their own cabins. There just simply wasn't enough room in the Big House infirmary anymore, so Annabeth had drawn up blueprints for a bigger second medical care facility.

Annabeth. Thadeus hadn't even remembered to check in with her. She was his best friend, no matter his gender, and he really did want to make sure she was all right. The blonde was the closest thing he had to a little sister. She would probably slam the door in his face if he popped his head into her cabin, so he resisted the urge to check up on her this late at night.

The son of Hades was slumbering in his infirmary bed, thankfully. He still had a bandage wrapped tightly around his forehead, but that really wasn't a surprise. He had taken quite the fall during a game of Capture the Flag. Well, it was actually after the game had already ended. He was walking through camp and bumped his head or something. It sounded ridiculous to Thadeus, but he tried not to think too much about it.

He walked over to the mini-fridge in the room, pouring a fresh glass of nectar. He sat it down on the small table beside Nico's bed before turning around and exiting the room. Thadeus dug his hands into the pockets of his jacket and began to wander the camp, not at all fearing the idea of the harpies chasing after him.

Figuring that there was nothing better to do, he found himself walking towards the arena. He might as well try to get in some practice with his new body. He couldn't believe that he hadn't considered the changes in his fighting ability. He didn't know if he would be better or worse—weaker or stronger. He wasn't sure if he could summon as much lightning or manipulate air.

He walked rather noisily into the sword fighting arena, wanting to warn whoever might be inside. When he heard no voices at all, he proceeded to take his mace canister from his pocket and activate it. It felt slightly unbalanced in his hands, not as comforting as it had felt to him before. Shrugging the feeling off, he approached one of the straw dummies. He made for an attack, and it only barely landed where he had wanted it to.

Scowling, he pushed himself even harder. He never had this much trouble with his spear. He had always been excellent with it. Could gender really have changed his skill? He continued assaulting a good number of dummies, but his attacks never provided the results he wanted.

"Would you look at that?" an angered voice called from behind him. He spun around, taken off guard, and saw something that made his blood pump ten times faster. Mark and Sherman. "Someone is prepping himself for an ass-kicking, Sherman."

Sherman smirked, drawing his sword. "What are you waiting for, pussy? You think you can make fools out of us in front of everyone and get away with it? That's not how things go around here. _No one _insults us."

"I don't see how calling me a female reproduction part is supposed to make you seem like less of a moron, but all right," Thadeus replied. "I suppose I'll humor you two."

Mark scoffed. "C'mon, Sherman. Let's fuck him up."

"Uh, please, boys, try and restrain yourselves," the son of Zeus responded sarcastically, raising his spear just as Sherman made to attack him.

He blocked the move easily, but the grip he had on his weapon could have been better. For the first time, he was starting to doubt his chances of winning. Sure enough, with another swing, Sherman knocked the weapon from his hands. The spear flew too far away from him, and the hilt of the demigod's sword was shoved into his temple. He hit the ground hard, and Mark wasted no time and kicking him in the ribs.

Sherman straddled his back, pulling his head back by his hair. The two children of the God of War may have been shorter than Thadeus, but they both had bulky bodies and Sherman felt fairly heavy on his back."Let's ruin this pretty boy," he suggested hatefully, dragging the blade of his sword across Thadeus' face.

He managed to slice at the taller boy's cheek before the son of Zeus forcefully knocked him off. Not giving either of the demigods time to respond, Thadeus kicked the sword from Mark's hand, reaching forward to grab the boy by his hair. The son of Ares cried out in pain, and Thadeus threw him to the ground.

The son of Zeus hummed, kicking Mark in the side just as the demigod had done to him. "Guess you losers aren't that tough."

He sensed Sherman rising to his feet behind him, and he didn't bother turning around. He shoved his elbow behind him, catching Sherman in the gut. The boy tumbled over in pain, clutching his sore stomach. Electricity danced from Thadeus' fingertips as he lifted the boy by the front of his shirt. The sparks burnt Sherman through his camp shirt, and the son of Zeus could smell the material beginning to burn.

"What's going on here?"

Thadeus glanced up in alarm, hearing the familiar feminine voice. He dropped the son of Ares to the floor. The startled expression on his face soothed over whenever he recognized the girl as Rachel. He wondered what she was doing there, or why she decided to pop in, but he settled for staring at her silently.

"The newbie was wailing on us!" Mark complained, struggling to his feet. He clutched his ribs. "We weren't doin' nothin'! We just heard noises and wanted to see what was goin' on. We caught him trying to snatch one of the practice swords, and before we could tell Chiron, the guy was beating the crap out of us!"

Thadeus didn't even get the chance to object.

"His hand…" Sherman coughed, gripping his neck tightly. "It burnt me."

Mark narrowed his eyes hatefully, spitting on the ground next to Thadeus' boot. "What are you, freak? A son of that hideous retard Hephaestus? I gotta say, I see the resemblance."

Thunder rumbled in the distance, but none of them so much as flinched at the sound.

They had just finished calling him a pretty boy, and now they were calling him hideous?

Rachel nodded her head slowly, her lips twitching slightly. "Mark, Sherman, you go on back to your cabins." She glanced to Thadeus with a glint of anger in her sparkling green eyes. "I'll deal with him. I'll make sure that Chiron knows all about this."

The sons of Ares hurried out of the arena, but not before shooting Thadeus smug grins. The tallest of them all seethed, but kept his mouth shut until the demigods were gone. He turned to Rachel once they were out of sight.

"None of that was true—"

"Thadeus," she started.

"They were the ones that ambushed me, and—"

Rachel sighed. "Thadeus."

"I didn't even know they would be here, honestly—"

"Gods, would you shush?" the redhead interrupted loudly, boldly setting her hands on either side of his face. He blushed at the feel of her hands against his cheeks, but fought to remain silent until she finished. "I know it wasn't you. Mark and Sherman pull that kind of shit all the time. This has got to be the fifteenth time I've walked in on them 'showing the newbies around'. I always stick around here to stop them from hurting other demigods. Hades, even Clarisse gets onto them for it. _Clarisse!_ And she used to be big on torturing the new campers. She grew up, I guess. I mean, in a way, all of us did. A lot of newcomers, though, and some of the younger demigods still won't let anyone else tell them what they should do. Mark and Sherman are the worst about that, and it's really disrespectful, especially when no one ever did anything to them—"

"Rachel," he cut in, smirking. "You're ranting."

It was her turn to become flustered, and she finally realized that she had placed her hands on his face. She retracted them sheepishly, sending him a nervous smile. "Sorry. I get told I do that a lot." She laughed a little bit. "My parents hired me a therapist when I was younger, and I swear I talked Dr. Arkwright's ear off. I never answered his questions directly. I just talked until he stopped asking about my _feelings_."

Thadeus didn't stifle his laughter like he usually did with people he wasn't close with. He hated his laugh. He had always thought that it sounded creepy. "Hey, it's cool."

Rachel nodded, still smiling, but the smile was soon replaced by a concerned frown. Her finger skimmed over his newly obtained face wound, and he winced from the slight sting. "They got you before I intervened."

"Yeah," he said, nodding. "But, it's fine."

"No," she disagreed, causing him to arch an eyebrow. "No, it isn't. It's bleeding. You're coming with me. We need to get that healed."

"Rachel, honestly, I appreciate it, but I've been through much worse."

"That's not an excuse not to get it healed, Thadeus."

He picked up his spear, turning it back into a mace canister before clipping it on his jeans. "I do not make excuses."

Rachel smiled back patiently. "Then follow me."

It took a while, but eventually they stood in front of a cave at the top of a hill. Old weapons and bones littered the ground, and suspicions instantly ran through Thadeus' mind. Was she actually some kind of psycho killer? Did she use her good looks to lead innocent men to their deaths, like the Sirens used their voices? Was she a praying mantis creature or something? If she tried to mate with him and then bite his head off, he would be at fault for trusting her in the first place.

Torches flanked the entrance to the cave, and a deep purple curtain embroidered with snakes hung in front of them. The exterior of the place made Thadeus feel really uncomfortable, and was doing nothing to get rid of the crazy bug-woman thoughts he was having.

Rachel smiled at him. "Don't be too frightened. It's not all that bad. I actually really like it." He was starting to grow more and more freaked out by her. "C'mon, you have to see the inside. You'll love it." She excitedly grabbed him by his bicep, entering the cave and tugging him in after her.

"Wow," was all he could say upon seeing the interior.

It was massive. There was so much space, and Thadeus was surprised that she lived up here all alone. In the closest end, there was basically a miniature arcade set up. There was a racecar simulator, a claw machine, and a virtual shooting game. The cave had a bar and counter set right up against one of the walls, a small fridge, and several other pieces of furniture. In the farthest end, there was a huge, purple silk-sheeted bed and two stylish wooden nightstands. The carpet was artistic and colorful.

"Told you that you'd love it," she teased, pulling him towards the leather couch in the center of the room. He sat down immediately, instantly feeling more comfortable. It wasn't even cold in the cave, which was certainly unusual. He wondered how she kept it so warm, but he figured that was a question for later.

"I do," he agreed, nodding.

Rachel walked off towards her little kitchen set up. "I'm just going to get my first-aid kit, so we can work on that cut of yours."

"It really isn't bad, Rae."

"Rae?" the redhead questioned with a smirk. "No one has ever called me that before. I like that," she claimed, grabbing the kit from a drawer and walking back over to the couch. She sat down on it sideways, crossing her legs, so that she could face him.

"I have a habit of shortening names," Thadeus admitted with an almost unnoticeable blush. Thankfully, she hadn't seen it. What was getting into him? He had never blushed before. He had been born super confident. Did the gender-swap have anything to do with that? "Annie for Annabeth, Grove for Grover..."

"And Rae for Rachel," the redhead finished, grinning. She took a sterile wipe from the kit and began to clean at his cut. "I just have to make sure that I get all the dirt out. When you fell to the floor of the arena, a lot of gunk got into it."

Thadeus wrinkled his nose in disgust. It only took her a few more minutes to finish cleaning it, apply a generic healing ointment, and slap a bandage over it. It felt cool against his cheek, and the sting was no longer present. After she took the first-aid kit back into the kitchen, she hopped back onto the middle seat cushion.

"Oh!" Rachel exclaimed. "I almost forgot. Didn't they hurt your stomach?" she asked, unashamed as she attached her hand to Thadeus' abdomen. "Where did they kick you?"

The son of Zeus flushed scarlet for the umpteenth time, his wide eyes watching as her hand pressed against him. "My rib cage. It's fine."

She sent him a playful glare. "Stop saying that."

"Okay," he relented, surprising himself. He was typically more stubborn than Penny.

"Take your shirt off."

"What?" he asked, confused and slightly nervous. Only Aphrodite, her assistants, and Penny had seen him shirtless.

Rachel, ever the positive Oracle, merely smiled in response to his confusion. "So I can see your ribs," she clarified. "Living at camp and being a close associate of Apollo has granted me the right to try and heal you," she said smartly. "So, take off your shirt."

Thadeus slipped his jacket off, pulling the gray shirt up his chest. He removed one arm before following through with other, tossing the shirt onto the arm of the couch. He didn't dare to meet her eyes, afraid to see amusement or mockery. She was a _virgin _Oracle after all, sworn off men with no interest in dating. She certainly wouldn't like what she saw. If anything, she would think badly of his body.

He scowled. A son of Zeus, ashamed and insecure about his body? Boy, he was a laugh, wasn't he?

"You have slight bruising," she murmured as she ran her soft, warm palm over his pale abdomen and side. Chills ran up his spine. He hadn't even touched his new chest yet. It was strange, but not unpleasant. "Nothing too major." She pressed down slightly. "Did that hurt?" He shook his head. She sat a firmer hand, this time directly on his bruise. He winced a little, but fought to remain silent. Rachel sighed, removing her hand. "You should be fine. Nothing a sleep won't heal. I'm told you demigods recover fairly fast."

"Yeah," Thadeus admitted, nodding. "We do."

Rachel stood from the couch, stretching her arms above her head. Her over-sized Red Sox sweatshirt rode up with the motion, and the son of Zeus glanced away out of respect. "Want me to walk you back to the Big House?"

Thadeus considered the thought. He couldn't say yes. One, he could walk himself back, and two, he was pretty sure that he didn't want to stay at the Big House—not while he was still hotheaded about the matter he and Penny had been discussing.

"Uh, actually, I'm planning to find somewhere else to stay for tonight. But thanks for asking, anyway," he said. He stood from the couch as well, extending a hand for her to shake. When all she did was stare at his outstretched palm in amusement, he quickly retracted it and stuffed it into his pocket. Embarrassed, he hurried to put his shirt and jacket back on. "So, I'll see you later, I guess."

He made to walk out of the cave, but her voice called him back. "Wait!" He stopped, but didn't turn around. "Where are you planning on sleeping for tonight?"

Thadeus shrugged. "No idea. I'll find some place. Probably bunk with the Hermes cabin."

"Connor and Travis won't recognize you like that," Rachel pointed out softly, patiently. "Look, why don't you just stay here?"

"Uh, I—I—"

"There is nothing to be afraid of. I'm the Oracle, not a praying mantis woman," the redhead joked.

Thadeus swore he felt his heart stop in fear, looking at her with wide eyes. He knew it! He _knew _it! He had just easily walked into her trap.

"Relax," she remarked, beginning to laugh. "Thadeus, what are you so freaked about?"

"You are sworn from men," he pointed out plainly, calming down from his previous shocked fit.

"I'm not hitting on you!" she laughed again, lightly socking him in his shoulder. "Geez, calm down. Years with the Hunt have gotten you really uptight about things, haven't they?"

"Yeah, but…the huntresses are sworn from men, too. Artemis would be pissed if we allowed a man to sleep in _our_ tent."

"Apollo will get over it," Rachel assured. "I'm only doing something nice for a friend."

"Friend?" Thadeus asked in confusion. "We're friends?"

"Well, yeah, I didn't let Mark and Sherman wail on you," she replied, although she didn't sound mocking or angry.

Despite her calm tone, he couldn't help but take slight offense. "Hey, I was handling the situation perfectly fine on my own. They only had the upper hand on me for a few seconds." She flashed him an almost doubtful look. "Really! You saw! It's just…my spear, it must be broken or something."

"I saw you use it," she admitted. "Well, okay, I saw you_ attempt_ to use it. Why wasn't it working?"

"I—I don't know. I could use it perfectly fine when I was a…you know, a girl. I don't understand why things are so different now."

Rachel frowned. "That's not too unusual. You _did _switch genders. It's not like you could very well be exactly the same as you were before. With new hormones and body parts, a little personality change is to be expected."

Thadeus nodded slowly. "I…I guess you're right. I mean, I noticed that Penny is a little different, and I seem to be twice as temperamental as I was before." He gave a small laugh. "Hell, I got so angry with Penny that I just left the room."

"That's why you have to find another place to stay for the night?" she guessed. He told her yes. "Do you want to talk about the problem?"

The son of Zeus shrugged, taking the silent invitation to sit back down on the couch. He sat his elbows on his knees and leaned his face into his palms. "Penny and I have a lot in common, but we really don't think the same way."

Rachel quietly listened to him. He wondered why the hell he couldn't stop himself from spilling everything.

"She's technically my cousin, and I care about her and all, but she has been way too passive recently. You know? Like, she wants to sit back and let the gods do all the work. She told me that she would help me figure out the answer for myself, and I trust her. I do. I would trust her with a lot of things. But, I can tell that it isn't what she wants to do. Then, after reading some old spells, I came to the conclusion that a god possibly caused this to happen to us. She didn't agree with me, and I flipped out on her. I feel bad about it. She didn't deserve that, you know? But at the same time, I feel like I had the right to get angry. I mean, here I am, trying to figure things out for me—for us, and she doesn't want to listen to me." He finally took a breath, breathing somewhat heavily. His cheeks were red from frustration as well as lack of oxygen. "Sorry."

"And people think I rant," she joked, smiling at him good-naturedly. "Don't apologize. Really, feel free to let anything off your chest. I'm told I'm an excellent listener, as well as a talker." He smiled a little. "Now, what was this about old stories?"

"Oh, yeah," he said, thinking back to them. "See, I found this book in the Big House—all about magic. So, I figured that there might be something in it about the curse. I looked and found a lot of stories—myths, whatever—about people getting their genders switched. There was always some divine force behind it—a god or a goddess. There were no stories about the people cursing themselves. What else am I supposed to think?"

Rachel nodded understandingly.

"Thanks…for listening to me ramble," he said, finally breathing properly.

The redhead shrugged kindly. "You know, it's funny. You've never struck me as a talkative person."

"I'm not."

"Only when you have a lot to say, then?" she asked, raising her fiery eyebrows. Thadeus snickered, shaking his head. "Are you staying the night?"

"Apollo might not be too fond of the idea," Thadeus warned. "He may technically be my half-brother, but he has a long history of rage…and murder."

"Admittedly, he does keep me on a pretty tight leash. But, there's nothing to worry about. You were previously female, so he won't be as concerned."

"If you say so," the son of Zeus said. "So, I'll take the couch, then?"

"Are you kidding? I believe that you are my guest. Please, take the bed."

Thadeus scoffed. "Exactly. I'm a guest—not your mother. You don't owe me anything. You take the bed. I'll be fine here. I prefer firmer surfaces anyway."

Rachel appeared as if she were about to argue, but then she nodded. She turned out her lamp and then walked over to her bed, tucking herself underneath the sheets. "Goodnight, Thadeus."

The son of Zeus didn't respond, slowly getting comfortable on the leather couch, staring up at the cave's ceiling. He was already beginning to feel bad about releasing all of his worries onto the redheaded Oracle, but he knew that she wouldn't want to hear any of his apologies.

He had to admit that being male was strange. He understood that in order to keep their fake story straight, he and Penny would have to continue to go by their aliases. He found it odd, now being a _he_, but he reasoned that it was necessary. It wasn't that big of a deal, really. It was only until he found out who was behind the whole incident, and discovered a cure for them. He was sure it would all be over before long.

Until then, he was going to try not to worry about it. He had done enough worrying. He was done being weak about it. If he wasn't able to fight with his spear, then he would continue to practice—even if he had to try other weapons. He felt slightly uncoordinated with his new body, but it was nothing that a little training and conditioning wouldn't fix. He was sure that, in no time, he would be back and better than ever.

He heard Rachel fall asleep, her breathing calm and barely audible.

Thadeus thought about what kind of life he would have outside of the Hunt. He didn't want to think about it, but there was a chance that he would fail whatever tests Artemis has for him. Then where would he be? He didn't want love—he didn't need it. He had seen how his mother had begged Zeus for everything she could think of, and the god had retreated to Olympus. He couldn't blame his father. His mother had been a soul-sucking drunk. Thadeus knew that he would only end up having the same thing happen to him. He'd be used until he simply couldn't take it anymore. Why bother trying to start a relationship in the first place? They were useless.

Thadeus found many people attractive. He had as a female. But, when he had sworn against dating, he meant it. There was something about it that he just didn't get. He groaned quietly, turning on his side. He just needed to get some sleep. He would think about this bullshit later. Closing his eyes hesitantly, he allowed his mind to settle out. He was so not looking forward to the morning.


	5. Pain and Excitement

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO, or Icy Hot.**

**Warning: Mature content. Not sex, though, you perverts.**

**AN: ****I felt so disturbed with myself after writing this. You're welcome.**

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**The Distortion of Destiny**

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**Pain and Excitement**

Penny hadn't dreamt that night, which was a miracle in itself. She almost always had a dream—and they were nightmares more often than not. She felt well-rested, and she was actually kind of looking forward to the day. Sure, it sucked that she had to put up with being changed for another day, but she could smell the delicious breakfast already.

She felt sort of weird, though, like something was off with her new body. She wasn't sure what it was. There was a dull pain in her body. She decided not to stress on it. She must have slept wrong.

She sat up in the large bed, stretching her arms above her head and yawning. Her sea green eyes glanced to the empty side of the mattress, her lips turning downwards into a frown. Where was Thadeus? Had he really, seriously stayed out all night? The harpies could have gotten him! He was so frustrating.

She understood why he had gotten so upset. Thadeus didn't like when others argued with him or questioned his orders—he had always been that way. She truly felt bad for upsetting him, but he had been an absolute douche bag to her. She had only been trying to help, and calm his raging paranoia, and he had flipped out. He was always so dramatic. She didn't see how so much drama could be contained inside of one person.

Thadeus was just one of those people that insisted on doing things for himself. Percy didn't know why, but the son of Zeus hated feeling dependent. It was perfectly understandable, but everyone needed a little help sometimes.

Penny just hadn't agreed with what the son of Zeus had been implying. Why would the gods keep something from them? Sure, they had done it plenty of times in the past…but hiding something that had to do with their situation? Penny had her doubts. Thadeus seemed pretty convinced that all of the Olympians knew why they had been changed, and he insisted that one of them had caused it to happen.

The daughter of Poseidon crawled out of bed, telling herself to stop worrying about the matter for the time being. She made her way to the room's closet, checking to see if there was anything she could wear in there. Naturally, it was stocked full of dust. No clothes were in it anywhere.

Penny released a quiet groan of irritation, making her way to the bathroom. As soon as she opened the door, the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. She had not been aware of another presence in the room. There, in nothing but a pair of jeans, was Thadeus. He was…shaving his face? Shaving cream covered his cheeks and the area directly below his nostrils. He ran the razor from his high cheekbone to his chin. The motion looked sloppy, and completely unpracticed.

"Hello, Pinhead," Thadeus said, strangely sounding polite, even though it was early in the morning. Everyone knew that the son of Zeus was not a morning person. What had gotten into him? "Finally shaving this stubble shit off."

"Uh…Thad, are you feeling all right?"

Thadeus glanced at her, turning his attention away from the bathroom mirror. "Yeah, I'm doing just fine. Better than I thought I would be doing last night." He continued shaving carefully. "Say, how do I know if I'm doing this correctly?"

Penny reached her hand out for it, not at all surprised whenever he shot her a suspicious expression. "Oh, calm down. I'm not going to slice your face off. I've done this before. Hand it to me, and I'll walk you through it, so that you can do it yourself next time."

Thadeus reluctantly agreed, staying completely still as his cousin began to shave his sparse facial hair, talking him through the process. "Now, you want to be careful, but you can't go too slowly. You'll end up pressing down way too hard and nicking yourself."

Her eyes caught sight of a frightening scar on his upper cheek, and she frowned. "I'll have to make sure to shave around that. What happened?" Her question was rewarded with silence. "That's okay, you don't have to tell me," she added sarcastically.

Thadeus sighed softly, trying to avoid moving his mouth too much. "Last night, I decided to practice a little in the arena—you know, see if any of my skills have changed. They have, by the way. I am terrible with my spear."

"These bodies sure are hard to get used to," Penny agreed, nodding. "Anyway, go on."

"Mark and Sherman showed up and tried to double-team me."

"They are such assholes," the daughter of Poseidon seethed, her cheeks flushing red in anger. She was overprotective of her friends, and it took everything in her not to storm into the Ares cabin to crack their skulls open.

She scowled, realizing that it would be difficult with her current size. She was a fairly dainty woman. She didn't even look like she could defend herself. Thadeus, even as a female, had always looked so athletic and tough.

"It's…it's fine," he said. "I took care of it. I got the upper hand pretty quickly. They just kicked at my ribs once, and Sherman barely cut my cheek. That's all."

The daughter of Poseidon nodded, calming down remarkably. She often had trouble with accepting the fact that her friends and family members could usually defend themselves. She just couldn't help but want them to need her.

Penny smiled a little to herself, realizing that he was finally allowing someone to help him out. Earlier, he had told her that he needed no assistance with behaving and acting like a boy. Now, she was teaching him how to deal with his facial hair. It seemed as if he was growing more relaxed about it. She figured that he was still coming to terms with everything that had changed in their lives. She didn't blame him—she had trouble getting used to it, too. There were so many things that were foreign to her that she had to grow into. Such as waking up with breasts in the morning. Boy, that was always a wake-up call.

"There," she said eventually, ducking the razor beneath the sink water to rinse it out. "All done. That wasn't so bad, was it?"

"_That wasn't so bad, was it?_" Thadeus mocked childishly.

She stuck her tongue out at him. "Oh, real mature." Before she could leave the room, he pulled her back by her elbow. "Yeah?" she asked, watching as the little bit of shaving cream left on his face began to drip onto his bare chest. "Um, Thad, you might need to rinse that off."

"Oh, right," he said, turning back to the sink. He cupped some of the water in his hands and splashed his face with it, accidentally getting some into his mouth. It was hilarious seeing him sputter, but Penny somehow managed to keep from laughing. He quickly glanced back at her, dabbing at his face and chest with a small towel. "So, uh…listen. I—I realize that I was at fault last night. I overreacted, like usual."

He didn't exactly say the words, but Penny knew that it was his way of apologizing for earlier.

She wanted to scoff in his face, throw something weighty at him—like a spaceship—and then yell at him to get out of _her _room. But, even though she was still upset with him for flipping out on her without good reason to, she couldn't fight off her smile. Besides…she could get him back for it later. There was no way she was letting him off the hook that easily.

"It's cool. Don't worry about it, dude." Penny gestured to his chest and raised her eyebrows. "I'm guessing you can't find any spare clothes?"

Thadeus shook his head. "Nope, I haven't had any luck with that."

"Me either," the daughter of the sea admitted. "You thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Chances are, yes," he said, smirking. "Gift shop?"

Penny laughed, nodding. "Of course. Come on, let's go."

By the time they got there—Thadeus still shirtless, and doing his best to cover himself modestly—breakfast was almost over. Penny urged him to hurry in the store as they collected different articles of clothing. The son of Zeus seemed more interested in the boxer briefs than anything else, and it began to worry her. She was sure that she would have to hold an underwear intervention pretty soon.

Eventually, they got everything they needed. They rushed back to their room in the Big House, wanting to be able to eat breakfast before it ended. Penny got dressed in the bathroom, throwing on a pair of white shorts and an orange Camp Half-Blood t-shirt. She reluctantly walked back into the bedroom, not knowing if Thadeus was finished or not.

"I'm ready," the son of Zeus said, wearing an outfit just as simple as hers. He slipped his boots on hurriedly, not wanting to take much longer. After she pulled on her tennis shoes, they walked out of the Big House and headed for the Mess Hall.

They had to sit with Mr. D and Chiron once more, but neither of them particularly minded. Penny dug into her eggs and bacon, admittedly eating very 'un-ladylike'. She didn't care anyway. People could eat however they wanted to, and she wasn't about to let anyone tell her she couldn't. Besides, she had grown up eating this way. With Smelly Gabe around when she was younger, if she didn't eat fast, she didn't eat at all.

"So, where were you last night?" Penny asked, talking around a mouthful of food.

Thadeus made a disgusted face. "Gods, stop eating so manly. You're getting strange looks."

Penny shrugged. "At least I don't eat with unnecessary caution like you do." When her cousin glared at her, she couldn't help but laugh. "Come on, man, it's like you're afraid to hurt your eggs or something. Oh, wait—I'm the one with the eggs now."

"You're so gross," the son of Zeus claimed, scrunching his nose. "And, to answer your question, last night I stayed with—I stayed with—" his voice trailed off as he caught sight of something behind Penny. "Mark and Sherman are looking over here," Thadeus stated coldly, his grip tightening on his silverware. "I swear, if they try anything—"

"They won't," a voice interrupted. Rachel sat down next to the stunned son of Zeus, picking a piece of bacon from his plate. Penny had to stifle her laughter at the expression on his face.

"Oh, yeah?" Thadeus retorted. "How do you know that?"

Rachel flashed him a disbelieving look. "Come on! With the ass kicking you gave them?"

"I can justify every move I made against them."

Penny narrowed her eyes at the two of them in confusion. She didn't know that Thadeus even talked to Rachel. Wait…the redhead had seen the fight with Mark and Sherman?

"How did you know about the fight?" she asked curiously, peering around Thadeus to get a good look at Rachel. She furrowed her dark eyebrows. "Were you there?"

The Oracle glanced to Thadeus, clearly unsure whether or not to answer the demigoddess' question. "Mark and Sherman have been doing that shit for a while now. I usually try to stop it before it happens—even had a dream about it once. Don't worry; there isn't some kind of big bullying prophecy about them. I was there to stop them from trying to hurt Thadeus."

"I didn't need any help," he said, pretending to scoff arrogantly. The son of Zeus distracted himself from embarrassment by taking a long sip of his orange juice.

Rachel smiled. "You're welcome."

Everyone was pretty much finished eating breakfast, and some campers, satyrs, and nature spirits began to leave the area. Penny's eyes followed Annabeth's form as she exited with the rest of her cabin, and she felt her spirits drop.

She wasn't sure what she even felt for Annabeth anymore. Annabeth was her girlfriend, true, or…she had been. Penny didn't even know what was going on. She knew that she loved the daughter of Athena, but it had started to feel like a detached love. Penny felt like the blonde didn't want to be anywhere around her.

Penny wasn't sure when it had officially began, but it started to feel as if Annabeth wasn't her girlfriend. They didn't go out much after the first three months, and they barely had any time for one another. She loved the blonde with all of her heart, but she was just so damn confused about everything now. So much had been changed throughout the past week, and it was becoming a little too much to handle.

Annabeth must have been worrying her pretty head off about them. She didn't know that _Percy and Thalia _had made it back relatively safely. She probably suspected that something very bad had happened to her best friends.

Penny recalled the time she had been on Ogygia. She remembered how distraught the daughter of Athena had been. Penny didn't want that to happen again. She would have to ask Chiron to tell everyone that she and Thadeus were staying with Sally or something. She didn't want to be the cause of Annabeth's distress again, and she knew that the son of Zeus didn't want that either.

The daughter of Poseidon was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn't even notice that Rachel had asked her a question. "Huh? What?" she replied, like the genius she was.

Thadeus smirked, but the redhead patiently repeated her question. "Thadeus told me about the book and everything. I asked you what you thought about helping him find out who was behind it."

"The book?" Penny echoed quietly, yet incredulously. "You're still going crazy about that damn book? No one is behind this incident, Thad. Even if someone was, we aren't even sure where to start looking. The gods wouldn't let us get a foot outside of camp."

"Correction," he replied with an attitude. "_You _aren't sure where to start looking. I have a perfect idea."

"He's lying. He has no idea," Rachel supplied with a kind smile.

"I'm working on it!"

The Oracle began to say something, but it died in her throat. Her green eyes were narrowed at someone behind Penny, and the daughter of Poseidon turned around to see Drew Tanaka. The child of Aphrodite was making her way towards them, curling her lips upwards in disgust at the sight of Penny and Rachel. Her brown eyes were quickly trained on Thadeus, apparently appreciating the sight of him.

"What do you want, Drew?" Rachel asked. No spite was detectable in her voice.

The daughter of Aphrodite didn't bother to answer her. She leaned forward and tapped Thadeus on his strong shoulder. When he glanced back to look at her expectantly, she flashed a pretty smile. "Chiron says I'm supposed to give you a tour of the camp. I don't know why he waited so long, but hey. Come with me, sweetie."

The son of Zeus, looking utterly confused, stood from the table. Drew latched onto his bicep immediately, beginning to pull him away from the other girls. "Uh, I guess I'll see you later, guys," he managed to say before he was pulled quickly through the dining pavilion.

Penny wrinkled her nose. "Chiron?" she asked loud enough for the centaur to hear. He was on the opposite end of the table. He looked up curiously. "Did you tell Drew to show Thadeus around?"

"Oh…yes," the centaur said. "I wouldn't have done it, but…she was getting suspicious, like some of the other campers. You two are seemingly new to the camp, and she was wondering why you have yet to receive a tour. Annabeth kept asking who you two are, and why you were ordered to sit at this table. But, I couldn't afford to put you in the Hermes cabin. They might have figured it out."

"Okay," Penny said, nodding. "Is anyone supposed to give me a tour?"

Chiron shook his head. "I have not assigned anyone to yet."

"Let's just pretend she got the tour," Rachel suggested. From her facial expression, Penny got the feeling that something was upsetting her. "We can go chill up in my cave. That'll be your tour of the camp."

The daughter of Poseidon smiled. "All right."

She got up with Rachel after she finished eating her breakfast. As they began to walk off, she suddenly stopped in her tracks. An unknown feeling ran its course through her petite body. A strange pain struck her, right below her stomach. She recognized it as the dull pain from earlier, only now it was more intense. She made a noise of displeasure, trying to soothe the area with her hand.

"Rachel, wait."

The redhead turned around, her eyebrows laced with confusion. "What's the matter—oh good gods."

"What?" Penny asked, worried by the alarmed expression on her friend's face. Rachel wrapped an arm around the demigoddess' shoulders, leading her into the direction of the Apollo cabin. "Rach, what are we doing? I can't go in there!"

"Well, what else can we do? I'm all out!"

"Out?" Penny repeated. "Out of what?"

Rachel flashed an amused look. "Tampons and pads."

"I—I—I'm—"

"Having your period soon," the redhead finished kindly. "It obviously hasn't happened yet—you would have felt it. But, it will happen fairly soon. You're just getting cramps first."

"This is what period cramps feel like?" Penny nearly shrieked. "Gods, I feel so sorry for all girls. This is terrible."

"Would you say that it's _bloody _terrible?"

"Rachel?"

"Yeah?"

"Refrain from making jokes," the daughter of Poseidon said, shaking her head. "Let's—let's just get me…uh, one of those tampons."

This was so weird. She was getting a period. Rachel's jokes on the way to the Apollo cabin didn't help matters either. Penny felt like punching herself in the face a hundred times. Her cramps felt like fire, and she had a dull ache in her lower body. It may have been her first period, but she was positive that menstruation was going to be the death of her.

* * *

The camp tour was even boring the second time around, Thadeus discovered. If he thought it had been bad before, it was even worse now. He already knew where and what everything was, and Drew didn't seem that interested in the tour herself. She kept looking at him, stroking his biceps, and leaning in too closely.

He had to admit that Drew was a sight for sore eyes—really, she was extremely beautiful—but she was making him feel uncomfortable. Now, her small hand was gripping the inside of his muscled arm.

"That's the camp store," she pointed out. "I have practically begged Chiron to let my cabin design the clothing from now on, but he won't give me a straight answer."

"Your cabin?" he asked, playing oblivious.

Drew smiled widely at him. "I'm a daughter of Aphrodite, and the counselor of my cabin."

"Aphrodite?" he inquired, false curiosity tainting his voice. "She's the goddess of love, right?"

"And beauty," she added with a nod and flirtatious wink. "If you couldn't already tell."

"I can see it," Thadeus replied honestly, not meaning to flirt with her or anything. He wasn't particularly interested in her. He knew that she didn't care about being friends with him, so he didn't see the sense in trying to connect with her. The way she grinned at him and tightened her hold told him that she had taken his comment as a flirty one. Wonderful. "So, which cabin is yours?"

"Cabin 10," she answered jovially. "Would you like to see it?" Before he could say no, she hurriedly urged him through the pink door.

The lovely exterior of the cabin had been nothing compared to the inside. It had to be the cleanest cabin he had ever seen. He was an extremely messy person. He feared that, by being in such a neat and tidy space, he would end up messing things up. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans and rocked back on his heels.

"It's really nice, Drew," he said halfheartedly. There were only two other people in the cabin, and they instantly looked up at the sound of his voice. They were preteen girls, and they were relaxing on their beds. He recognized the fair-haired girl as Sieva Pekkanen, but he wasn't sure if he had met the brunette before.

"Calissa, Sieva," Drew addressed, her expression showing her surprise. "Don't you have archery or something?"

"Technically, you have archery, too," Sieva pointed out, rolling her blue-green eyes. "Why did you bring a new camper in here, Drew?" Her voice was accusatory.

"What do you think she brought him in for?" Calissa, who Thadeus concluded to be the brunette, shot back sarcastically.

Drew was red in the face, but he wasn't sure if it was from embarrassment or anger. Her voice became cold and firm. Anger it was, then. Her tone was unwavering as she asked, "Oh, you're just begging to wear the Shoes of Shame, aren't you?"

The Shoes of Shame? Thadeus nearly laughed, but he only barely managed to refrain from doing so. It sounded utterly ridiculous. _That _was how Aphrodite's children were subjected to punishment in camp? If there were more children of Zeus, his cabin would probably beat the shit out of one another if someone overstepped their boundaries.

"No," Calissa said quickly, standing up and dragging Sieva with her. "We'll just get out of your big hair, Drew."

Thadeus snickered and Drew seethed as the girls exited the cabin. Honestly, Drew's hair wasn't even big. It was down in curly black ringlets, but it wasn't overly fluffy or anything. In fact, it seemed as if not a single hair was out of place.

"You'll have to ignore them," she said snidely. "The bitches will learn their places eventually."

The son of Zeus shrugged. "I didn't mind them. They seem to like back-talking you."

"You have no idea," she claimed with a roll of her caramel-colored eyes. She turned to face him completely, easing closer to him.

Her fingers came up to play with the collar of his camp shirt, and she stared up at him in a way that made him fidget. He was a good six or so inches taller than her, but she had no trouble leaning up on her toes to place her lips on his. Thadeus' eyes widened at the sudden move, and he wondered why the hell she had figured that it was all right to do.

She pulled back when she received no response from him and she ordered, "Kiss me."

Unthinkingly, he slowly and fluidly moved his lips against hers. He could taste her peach lip gloss as his strong hands settled on her hips. What was he doing? Why in the world was he enjoying this? Scratch that—why was he _letting _himself enjoy this? He wasn't gay. At least, he never thought he was. Wait, technically, wouldn't kissing a girl make him straight now? He was so fucking confused, but he simply couldn't stop kissing her.

She aggressively backed him up to an unmade bed, and whenever he refused to let himself be pushed onto it, she once again assertively commanded him. He had no option but no obey, and it was as if his body was in autopilot.

Drew straddled him, breaking her lips from his to pull off his camp shirt. Her soft, careful hands ran through his shaggy hair, making it even messier than it had been before. His plump lips ached from being pressed against hers for so long, but for some reason he could not pull himself away from the fierce kiss. Running her soft hands all over his torso, she slid her tongue into his mouth, and she rocked her hips against him. Her hands began to caress his bare waistline.

Thadeus began to feel something strange in his new body. His face and lower half were suddenly extremely warm. It ached in a pleasurable way, like a muscle constricting. He felt a throbbing in his lower body, causing him to groan into Drew's mouth. The daughter of Aphrodite pulled away, her eyes glancing down at his lap. With a smirk, she hopped off of him and made her way to the door. He stared after her in shock, not at all understanding the situation. Why had she pulled away? Where was she going?

"That's the end of our tour," she remarked slyly, sneering. She opened the door to her cabin. "Well, I have to go to archery now. Toodles!" Without another word, she hurried outside and slammed the door behind her.

The son of Zeus sat suddenly upright in the bed, panting wildly. He didn't have to look in a mirror to know his pupils were blown. He shook his head in confusion, before his eyes eventually drifted down to the crotch of his pants. He spotted an extremely prominent bulge, and his face paled.

Thadeus jumped from the bed quickly, grabbing his shirt before rushing out of the cabin. People—mostly girls—were ogling him as he ran across camp shirtless. He found that he was doing that a lot lately, but it wasn't his fault that he always happened to have his shirt off when he needed to rush somewhere. Besides, he had never been able to do this as a girl, and he had to admit that it felt pretty great.

He had to get to the Big House, before anyone noticed his…downstairs predicament.

_Pre-dick-ament_. He nearly laughed, but he was too preoccupied with being embarrassed.

He didn't stop running until he reached the Big House, and by that time, the ache in his pants was becoming unbearable. He threw open the door, rushing right past Chiron and Dionysus and up the stairs.

"We have enough wood for the fireplace!" Mr. D called after him teasingly, and the son of Zeus pushed himself to sprint the rest of the way to his room.

When Thadeus got through the door, he shut it loudly and stormed over to the bed. He sat at the foot of it, placing his elbows on his knees and leaning into his hands. He struggled to control his breathing, the tightening of his jeans too insufferable. He kicked his boots off. He didn't hesitate to unbutton his jeans and slide them down his legs, throwing them on the floor once they were off completely.

_Whew_, he thought, _that's better_.

He glanced down and groaned, still seeing his hard member straining against the material of his boxers. He threw himself down onto the mattress, and stared aimlessly up at the ceiling. He wanted to make the feeling go away, without having to…take matters into his own hands.

Gods, he got fucking blue balls from Drew Tanaka! Was there anything more mortifying? Why had she talked him into making out with her and stuff, and then left him hanging? He was pretty sure that it hadn't been that Aphrodite's 'Rite of Passage' thing that her cabin had going on.

Thadeus didn't know how to get rid of this _thing_! All right, well, he knew how to take care of the problem the quick and easy way, but he had never done that before. How would he know if he was even doing it right? And, moreover, wouldn't it be too strange? What if Penny—or, oh gods, Rachel—walked in on him? They would never talk to him again.

He heard Penny's footsteps on the stairs, and she and Rachel hurriedly talked with one another. Alarmed, he ran out of the bedroom and straight to the bathroom across the hall, in nothing but his boxers and crew socks. The girls hadn't seen him, thankfully, and they continued up the stairs. They stopped in front of the bathroom door, and Thadeus locked it.

"Thad?" Penny's voice called hesitantly. "You in there?"

"Yeah," he replied, cursing the way his voice sounded strained. "I'm just going to hop in the shower. You guys go ahead and chill in the bedroom."

"Okay," the daughter of Poseidon responded, and Thadeus could practically see her shrugging her small shoulders. "Come on, Rachel," she said, and the demigod heard the bedroom door open.

He released a large breath of air, making his way to the shower and turning the water on. As he waited for it to heat up, he looked worriedly back down to the front of his boxers. Sure enough, the bothersome tent hadn't gone away. He took the remainder of his clothes off, before stepping into the warm spray.

Thadeus resisted the urge to look down again, knowing he would only become more upset. He didn't like problems that he didn't know how to take care of. No matter how he tried to distract himself—even going as far as thinking of the goddess Hera—his not-so-little friend didn't seem to be going away anytime soon.

After shampooing and conditioning his hair, he lathered up a mesh pouf sponge with soap that smelled like oranges. Having completely forgot about his erection, he incidentally made contact with it. He gasped out of surprise, quickly yanking his hand away. The ghost of a touch certainly hadn't helped his situation at all.

As soon as he got out of the shower and dried off, he slipped back into his boxers. His erection was only barely present. He placed his hands in front of his crotch and snuck back across the hall. He sat his hand on the doorknob, but instantly stopped when he heard Penny and Rachel laughing on the other side. Gods, how was he supposed to get around them? He couldn't possibly explain to them what was wrong.

He knocked quietly, hearing their conversation come to a stop. "I forgot my clothes in there. I'm only in my underwear, so you have to turn away from the door. I'm going to come in, grab clothes, and then get dressed."

"Whatever," Penny called out. "We aren't looking."

Thadeus opened the door. True to their word, the girls were facing the other wall. The demigod made his way over to the closet, remembering that they had stored their new clothes there. After he changed his boxers, he pulled out a pair of black sweatpants and a red sleeveless shirt. He slipped into them before the girls decided to turn around.

"You got one of the Delphi Strawberry Service shirts?" Penny asked, smirking. "Wow. That's low, even for you."

Thadeus glowered at his cousin. "What's gotten into you?"

"It's what's getting out of her," Rachel corrected with a loud laugh. Penny glared at her, but eventually joined her. Thadeus glanced between the both of them in confusion. What in Hades were they talking about? "She got her period."

The son of Zeus nodded. "You could have just said that. You know, it's weird. Whenever I used to get my period, I didn't get all snappy like she does."

"Probably because you were snappy every other week," the daughter of Poseidon retorted.

"It's her first period," the Oracle said quietly. "Give her a break, Thadeus."

The demigod flashed an expression of disbelief. "Rae, she started it. That's no excuse!" The redhead began to reply, but then her eyes drifted lower and widened. Thadeus paled. He hadn't realized that it would be noticeable in sweatpants. Gods, how stupid was he? "What?" he questioned defensively, hoping that she hadn't been shocked about his erection.

"Uh, Thadeus, I think you have a…um, _problem _to deal with," Rachel said, obviously disturbed.

The son of Zeus gulped visibly. "Yeah," he admitted quietly. He placed his hands over the front of his pants again. "Gods, this is so mortifying. I'll just go somewhere else and hide until it goes away, like the woods…or into a pit of acid." He was already extremely red in the face as he turned away from them and fast-walked to the door.

"Wait!" Penny said, and he finally took notice of her laughing hysterically. He clenched his jaw and it twitched in sudden anger. "Looks like someone has a little angle on their dangle. I can't believe you got a fucking boner, Thad."

He seethed. "I can't believe you got a fucking _period_, Pinhead," he shot back in a childlike voice.

"How'd you even get one?" Rachel asked, obviously trying not to laugh at him like Penny was. Her smile turned into a frown as a realization came to her. "Hold on. Did this happen while you were with Drew?"

For some reason, Thadeus felt put on the spot. He shouldn't have felt such a reluctance to answer her question, but something about it bothered him. He was afraid that she would think poorly of him. It wasn't his fault, though! He wasn't in control of his new body at all.

Frankly, he didn't understand a single fucking thing about it. It took him forever to get used to the process of springing a leak. How was he supposed to fight off erections? It wasn't fair for either of them to judge him. Drew was obviously very attractive—and—and she had been rubbing herself all over him. Was he really to blame? He was so inexperienced with being a male.

"Yeah," he answered eventually, timidly and with a shrug of his shoulders. "I mean, she—she, like, jumped me."

Penny didn't seem all that angry with him, but the redhead's cheeks flared up. Why had that irritated her? Oh, right, she was a sworn virgin. He should have figured that she wouldn't like to hear that kind of thing. It was bad enough that she was subjected to seeing his annoying boner.

"Dude, don't feel bad about it," Penny said, waving her hand. "It used to happen to me all the time. It's perfectly natural. I'm still planning to tease you about it, though. Come on, sit down on the bed." Thadeus did so hesitantly, but his cousin's smile relaxed him. "So, Drew, huh?"

The son of Zeus wrinkled his nose. "I don't know what the hell got into me."

Rachel muttered something that he wouldn't hear.

His dark eyebrows furrowed as he glanced at her. "Are you all right, Rachel? You aren't…angry or anything, are you?"

"No. Why would I be?" she responded, her voice calmer. She sounded genuine, like always. "I don't care who you hang out with, Thadeus. I just think that it isn't very safe to be spending time with people like her. She's extremely manipulative."

"Manipulative?"

"She has the gift of charm-speaking," the Oracle replied. "She can get anyone to do anything she wants them to do, just by using her voice."

"Oh," he responded dumbly, scratching the back of his head. "That explains a lot, actually. I didn't initiate anything, and she kept telling me to do stuff."

"Do _stuff_?" Penny asked, getting excited. "Dude, did you get laid?"

Thadeus' cheeks flamed red. "No! Hell no, Penny!" he objected quickly. "What? Why would I do that? I'm…I'm not into…girls. At least, I don't think I am."

"Are you into boys?"

The son of Zeus was about to nod, but then he actually started thinking about it.

He realized that he sort of preferred women. They had softer features, their voices were sweet, and an aura of innocence surrounded them. He wasn't sexist—duh—but he had to admit that he found women to be more delicate, and that was in a good way. It wasn't because they were fragile; rather, it was due to their elegance and their dainty bodies.

The demigoddess noted his hesitation to answer, and jumped to her own conclusion. "Look, if you're into chicks, there isn't anything wrong with that."

Thadeus pursed his lips. "So, you won't, like, think badly of me or anything?"

Penny smiled. "Uh, no. I don't see anything wrong with you being attracted to either gender. I'm not judgmental, Thad. Come on, you've met my mother. She's the most open-minded person ever."

"And Rachel?" the demigod asked, bracing himself for the worse. "What do you think of me?"

"I think you're just like everyone else," she responded kindly, her voice not at all accusatory. "You should probably think of other girls to be with, rather than fuck Drew, but I won't judge. She's screwed over plenty of guys. Don't feel embarrassed about it."

Thadeus narrowed his eyes. "I didn't fuck Drew."

"He wouldn't be so uptight if he had," Penny provided humorously, slapping him on the shoulder. "So...you've had a boner for this long?"

"Uh, just since Drew managed to get me into her cabin. Why?"

Penny snickered behind her hand. "That takes some stamina. Then again, it could just be because you're getting used to handling your new body. It might be tough to get rid of, because this is the first time your lightning rod has ever been stiff." Lightning rod? What the fuck? "Now, you want to know how to get it...soft?" she asked, pointing to the tent in his sweatpants. Thadeus blushed, and Penny took that as her answer. "Don't worry; I won't explain it to you. That would be way too awkward."

Rachel sighed in relief. "Thank the gods. I was about to get the fuck out."

Thadeus didn't know why, but he suddenly felt like sulking. He was just embarrassed, and disappointed in himself, and _hard as a fucking diamond._ He wasn't a brooding type of person, but it was all he felt like doing at the moment.

Penny reached over into the nightstand and pulled out a container of some strange kind of balm. She handed it over to a bewildered Thadeus, who held it up for close inspection.

"It's Icy Hot," Penny explained, a wicked smile on her face. He was set-off by it, but he chose to ignore his suspicions. "Works wonders, man. Just go on in the bathroom," she leaned in closer to speak quieter, "rub a little bit of that on your Long Dong Silver, and you'll be soft again in no time."

Long Dong Silver? What was with Penny and weird names for his erection? Rachel visibly cringed at the name, and Thadeus realized he was doing the very same. It was just...gross sounding. Personally, he would name his something badass like Vlad the Impaler. Gods. He mentally face-palmed. A few days into being a guy and he could already practically feel his brain cells deteriorating.

Thadeus eventually shrugged, standing up from the bed. He turned to look back at the girls, unsure. Rachel was obviously humored by something, and he was glad to see that she didn't look too uncomfortable anymore. Penny was smiling too widely, and it was starting to freak him out. He hurried into the bathroom, shutting the door behind him. He stared at the container in his hands, taking a deep breath before he opened the lid.

* * *

**Can you see where this is going?** **If not, I'll let you in on a little secret—Icy Hot burns when placed on highly sensitive parts. Don't believe me, look it up on YouTube or something. I feel bad for doing this to Thadeus, but he'll get his payback. Review and let me know your thoughts on this chapter?**


	6. Thadeus Almost Gets Revenge

**AN: Starring the Stolls, Claire, Annabeth, Chris Rodriguez, Mark and Sherman, and Clarisse.**

**Disclaimer: Only own my own writing. The characters and whatnot belong to Rick Riordan. **

* * *

**The Distortion of Destiny**

* * *

**Thadeus Almost Gets Revenge**

Penny handed her cousin yet another ice pack, turning to look the other way as he shoved it in his sweatpants. Thadeus was furious with the two girls, and wasn't bothering to hide his agitation. It had been more than hilarious, though, hearing the son of Zeus practically scream like a baby. It had brightened Rachel's spirits, which had been unusually down. Penny hated seeing her friend in a bad mood. The Oracle was typically so bright and bubbly.

"How are you feeling, big boy?" the redhead asked, laughing at the look the demigod shot her. She raised her hands in surrender. "All right, all right. I get it. You're angry at us."

"For good reason!" Thadeus yelled. He adjusted the ice pack. "It fucking hurt. What did I do to deserve that? You had no motives for doing it, other than to carelessly cause me harm—"

Penny sighed heavily. "Oh, end the lecture, would you?" She smirked. "Isn't so funny when girls team up on you, huh?" The only male in the room seethed, looking down at his pained lap. "Please, calm down. It didn't hurt that badly."

Thadeus jumped from the bed, still cradling the ice pack in his pants. "You just wait until dinner time," he threatened, storming – all puns aside – to the doorway.

Penny scoffed as he exited the room, slamming the door behind him. She wouldn't lie and say that she wasn't intimidated by him, but she knew that her cousin had never been one for strategy. Unless he went to Annabeth, or another child of Athena, she didn't have anything to worry about.

Rachel started laughing beside her. "Maybe we shouldn't have been so hard on him," the redhead said between giggles.

"Maybe he shouldn't have been so _hard_," Penny joked, laughing loudly.

Rachel gave her a playful swat on the arm. "Stop being so crude. I guess your personality is pretty much the same. Still a boy on the inside."

The daughter of Poseidon shrugged. "Eh, what can you do?"

"Not much, apparently," Rachel said with a roll of her eyes.

She stood from the bed, wiping off the lap and back of her colorful sundress. Penny hadn't noticed she was wearing it. She had never seen the Oracle in anything but paint-splattered clothes or her Clarion Ladies Academy uniform. But, of course, she still looked like her normal self, with bare feet and a freckled face clear of makeup.

"I feel bad about doing that to him," the Oracle admitted. "I think we should make it up to him. It wasn't his fault that he…you know."

Penny shook her head. "Stop feeling bad for him. He deserved it. He spent last night being a total ass to me. It's just payback, Rach."

The redhead sighed. "You just opened up the door for revenge. Now you two are going to go back-and-forth messing with each other, until something bad happens and you get into huge trouble."

The daughter of Poseidon scoffed. "Please. I know Thadeus. He won't do anything unless I give him the opportunity to, and even then it won't be anything bad. He doesn't have it in him to be so mean, despite his appearance."

"I've heard of him being pretty mean in the past," Rachel pointed out. "The Stolls said that he stapled their collectible baseball cards to the back of a Drakon."

"That was a lie," Penny dismissed with a roll of her eyes. "You can't trust the Stolls. It wasn't a Drakon, it was a hellhound. Big difference."

Rachel looked at her like she thought she was insane. "Same point stands. If he wants to get revenge on us, it may not well well-planned, but it will be well-executed."

"You're worrying for no reason. And, it isn't like he would go after you. You aren't the one that tricked him, you just laughed. There's no harm in finding something funny—well, in this case, _hilarious_. Oh my gods, did you see the look on his face when he stopped screaming?"

Penny honestly didn't care if she sounded mean. Thadeus had been an absolute tool to her the night before, and she hadn't even been looking for an argument. He would have to learn that it was best not to cross her. He needed to realize that, by the end of the day, she was still _Percy Jackson_, and she wouldn't bow down for anybody. Well, with the exception of her mother, anyway.

"It's almost time to go to dinner," Rachel said, trying to steer the conversation away from the Icy-Hot incident.

"Ooh!" Penny said in a mocking voice, waving her hands in the air sarcastically. "We better watch out."

Rachel rolled her eyes. "Whatever," she said with a smile. She made her way to the door. "Well, anyway, I have some stuff that I have to get done before then."

"Oracle stuff?"

"Rachel stuff," the redhead corrected. "Have to get a couple of things done for school. Summer work and all. If I want to continue taking honor classes during the school year, I have to get a bunch of stuff done now."

"That sucks," Penny said, snickering. "I wouldn't even bother."

"I would," the Oracle said before leaving.

Penny sighed in exhaustion, wanting nothing more than to go to sleep. She forced herself out of bed and into the bathroom, deciding to take a shower. She couldn't help but smirk, once again thinking back to the pained and shocked look on Thadeus' face. Hey, he could call her mean names if he wanted to, but the Icy-Hot _had_ gotten him soft, just like she said it would.

* * *

Thadeus growled, stalking his way through camp. He had to go somewhere where he could think things through clearly. He had meant it when he said he wanted to take revenge, and he was going to ensure that it was the very best he could come up with.

He was about to head to the canoe lake when he spotted a familiar blonde head of hair near the volleyball court. Unthinkingly, he rushed over. The demigods surrounding the girl—Thadeus recognized them as the children of Athena—turned to look at him curiously as he approached. It was a while before Annabeth turned around to observe him as well, but when she did it threw him for a loop.

Her stormy gray eyes studied him for long moments, and he didn't dare to say anything. He wasn't used to seeing that look in her eyes—that cold, calculating gaze. He had never been on the receiving end of _that_. The blonde next to her, however, wasn't looking at him harshly at all. Her eyes—so much like Annabeth's, yet so very different at the same time—raked his full profile. There was a light blush covering her cheeks as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Hi," he greeted her, surprising himself. He didn't even know this chick. Figuring there was no going back now, he outstretched a hand. "I'm Thadeus. You are?"

The girl shook his hand shyly, biting down on her bottom lip. Annabeth continued to stand in front of him, eyeing him apathetically. "My name is Claire," she responded, smiling widely. "Daughter of Athena. The rude girl next to me is my sister Annabeth."

Annabeth sat her hands on her hips. "You're one of the new campers Chiron is allowing to sleep in the Big House." Not feeling threatened, Thadeus nodded. "As a daughter of the Goddess of Wisdom, I'm a highly curious individual—"

Thadeus smirked, choosing to cut into her statement before she could begin her speech. "You want to know why Chiron allowed me to stay in the Big House."

"Precisely," Annabeth said, looking surprised.

He was pretty surprised as well. He knew the blonde, and she had always gotten so frustrated with him whenever he dared to finish her sentences. Then again, after lecturing him about it, she would send him that cute little half-smile and apologize.

Unfortunately, due to his closeness with the daughter of Athena, he wasn't able to lie to her very well. In other words, she saw completely through him. It also didn't help that he sucked at coming up with lies to begin with.

He rubbed the nape of his neck, his lips parting slightly as he tried to come up with a believable story. Annabeth continued to stare at him, unimpressed and suspicious, while Claire blushed even more and smiled.

"Penny and I don't get along well with others," Thadeus eventually spoke, watching for Annabeth's reaction. "Chiron wants to keep us from other cabins until we're determined, because he wants to cause as least chaos as possible."

There, that was pretty convincible, right?

Annabeth narrowed her eyes.

Oh, shit.

"You must be a pretty strong demigod, then," Claire spoke up. "I mean, obviously, you're all…muscly. I saw you running without a shirt on earlier, and damn."

Was he really? He glanced down at his chest. He hadn't really paid any attention to the appearance of his new body. He was afraid that he wouldn't like what he saw.

"Oh, and that reminds me. That Penny chick," Claire started again. "Is she, like, your girlfriend or something?"

"Gods, no," Thadeus quickly responded. "We're best friends. Nothing more."

Claire smiled. "Oh, okay. You guys are just together all the time, and staying in the same room, I guess I just figured—"

"Does the thought of me being with someone upset you?" Thadeus interrupted, a smirk in place. He hadn't meant to ask the question, even though he was merely teasing.

Annabeth rolled her eyes, spinning around on her heel, and heading over to assist her brother Malcolm with something. Thadeus frowned. He hoped that she wasn't angry with him. That was the last thing he wanted. Okay, no. So, the last thing he wanted was probably a dinner invitation from Hera, but an angry Annabeth was a close second.

"Let's just say…I'm pleased to hear that you're single," the daughter of Athena replied, batting her eyelashes at him.

It was strange to see a sister of Annabeth's acting so flirtatious, but it was certainly not unwelcome. She was pretty cute.

"What's that in your pants?"

Fearing that his _lightning rod_ (according to Penny) had decided to pop up and say hello again, he nervously glanced down to his crotch. He sighed in relief. He pulled the ice pack out of his sweatpants, holding it up for her to see. "It's just an ice pack."

"Ice pack?" Claire asked, obviously trying not to laugh. "Are you okay?"

"I'm doing fine…now."

"What happened?"

Thadeus turned his gaze to the ground. "It's kind of embarrassing."

"Girl kicked you in the nuts?"

"Uh…I guess you could say that," he skirted around the subject. She sent him a look that screamed disbelief, and he relented. "Penny tricked me into rubbing Icy-Hot…on _it_."

Rather than laugh, she got closer and ran her hand down his arm. Her eyes were full of sympathy, something he had never seen from a child of Athena. "You poor baby," she said, her voice genuine. Baby? He wasn't a goddamn kid. "Connor and Travis Stoll fooled my brother Malcolm into doing that, so I know how much that must have hurt."

He swallowed roughly, feeling her move her arm up and down. He remembered what ended up happening last time a girl had flirted with him. Hopefully, he would have more control over himself…and his downstairs roommate this time. He pulled himself away, giving her a farewell smile.

"Maybe I'll see you around?" Claire asked as he began to walk away.

He shrugged. "Maybe."

As he walked away, he carelessly tossed the ice pack into the first outdoor garbage can he saw. He couldn't help but notice a good number of people watching him as he took a stroll around the camp. He knew why. He was one of the mysterious new campers, and this was the longest he had been out and around the rest of them. It was only expected that he would get a couple of stares.

Two people approached him, and he recognized them as Connor and Travis Stoll, sons of Hermes. The brunette boys sent him matching devious smiles, and each of them strung an arm around his shoulders.

"You're one of those new campers, aren't you?" Connor asked, smirking at him in a way that unsettled him.

"Of course he is, stupid, we already knew that," Travis shot back at his brother. "So, heard you got it on with Drew Tanaka."

Thadeus could only scoff at the brothers. "You obviously heard wrong."

"Yeah," Connor said brightly, nodding his head. "We thought so. You're only the third guy this month that Drew has pulled her tricks on. She does it to entertain herself."

"It's really a shame, because she is bangin'," Travis added. "Anyway, we came over here because Claire said that you could use our help."

"With what?" Thadeus asked, furrowing his brows. What in the hell had the daughter of Athena told the mischievous brothers?

"Getting back at that Penny chick you're always hanging out with," the youngest of the brothers—Connor—responded kindly. "Claire said she played a mean prank on you."

"And pranks," Travis continued, "well, they're kind of our specialty."

Thadeus had been friends with the two of them before joining the Hunt, but he had never really gone out of his way to hang out with them. He knew enough about them, though, to realize that while Travis was older and certainly more twisted, Connor was the smarter one. He also knew to pay close attention to their sticky fingers as they led him to their cabin.

"You want to help me get back at Pen?" Thadeus questioned, arching a brow. "Thanks, I really do appreciate it, but I'm sure I can come up with something."

"C'mon, man!" Travis whined, pulling his arm from around his shoulder. "We haven't had any fun around here in forever."

The son of Zeus flashed them both a disbelieving glance. "Really?"

"It's been roughly a week," Connor admitted with a shrug. "And, trust me; a week _is_ forever for Travis."

"Fine," Thadeus relented with a sigh. "As long as it doesn't end up hurting her."

Travis smirked even wider. "You're making the right decision."

Connor snickered. "Well, perhaps not, but we'll just ignore the fact that this plan has a chance to end catastrophically."

Travis waved his brother's comment off, opening the door to the Hermes cabin. "Come on in."

Thadeus stepped through the threshold, not at all surprised to see it cluttered with campers. Even after the Savior of Olympus had made the gods swear to claim their children before the demigods turned thirteen, there were still some kids who hadn't yet reached that age. Plus, Hermes got around.

Many of the demigods inside glanced up at them curiously, but glares from the full-blooded brothers had them looking away quickly. Connor and Travis led the son of Zeus to the very back of the cabin, and the three of them sat down together in a corner.

"Trust me, you don't want our other siblings in on this," Connor said, shaking his head at the thought. "They will just mess everything up for us."

"They'll take it too far," Travis agreed. "It's best if we stick out of earshot."

Thadeus nodded. "So…what did you two have in mind?" The brothers shared a smirk. It instantly had the son of Zeus on alert. "Gods. I'm not going to like this, am I?"

"It's going to involve Mark and Sherman," the shorter brother, Connor, stated. That's what he liked about him. He cut straight to the point, unlike the more mysterious Travis.

"Oh, delightful."

"It isn't that bad," Travis said. "Get this—I was kindly lurking around the Ares cabin. You know, not staging a prank or anything. Anyway, I happened to be close to the window and I heard Mark and Sherman talking."

"Talking about what?" Thadeus inquired. "How much they want to pound my face in?"

Travis smirked. "Nope. More like how much they want to _pound _your little Penny, if you know what I mean."

Thadeus was silent for a while, anger quickly overtaking his senses. He wouldn't let those assholes so much as look at the daughter of Poseidon again. After they dumped food on her, they had the nerve to talk about her that way? He was going to crush their balls into nut dust the next time he saw them. Penny was technically his cousin, and even though she had tricked him earlier, he wasn't going to sit back and let Mark and Sherman view her as some kind of sexual object.

"Dude, calm down," a voice said from Connor's left. The three demigods peered up to see a boy with cropped black hair. He outstretched a hand towards Thadeus, and the son of Zeus immediately accepted the handshake. "The name's Chris, Son of Hermes."

"Thadeus," the son of Zeus introduced. "Unclaimed."

Chris nodded understandingly, then he looked to the Stolls. "These two knuckleheads don't know what they're doing without me."

Thad scowled. "They're suggesting I associate myself with Mark and Sherman. There's no way in hell I'm going to do that."

Chris Rodriguez, Thadeus recognized, sat down with them. "Don't worry about it, man. They aren't going to get the chance to lay a finger on your friend. It's nothing like that. Just hear Connor and Travis out."

Connor frowned. "We are perfectly capable of handling this prank all on our own, Chris. Besides, it's not like you are as devious as the two of us."

Chris smiled patiently. "We share the same father. As you know, all of us have a little craving for pranks. Mine needs to be satisfied. Explain the rest of the plan."

Travis shrugged, unaffected by his half-brother's presence. "Well, as you may or may not know, Drew has got her eyes on Mark. Why? I have no idea. The dude looks like a fucking vulture. A very bulky vulture."

"What does Drew have to do with anything?" Thadeus asked, not at all liking where the conversation was going.

"Drew doesn't like when other girls are eyeing her…_person of interest_."

"More like her _next victim_," Connor corrected.

"Whatever," Travis dismissed. "Anyway, Drew has control over a little magic. Connor and I have experienced that firsthand." He shivered after saying it. "If Mark or Sherman were to…oh, I don't know…show that they were interested in Penny, in front of everyone—"

"Drew will do something to Penny," the son of Zeus finished. "Will it hurt her? What will happen?"

"Drew will come up with something totally lame," Chris said, "but mortifying at the same time. It won't be anything that will hurt her. If Penny were to start dating Mark, though, that would be another story."

"That's never going to happen," Thadeus gritted through his teeth.

Connor noted, "She must mean a lot to you."

"She's a close friend of mine."

Travis frowned sympathetically. "Friend-zoned, bro?"

"What?" Thad said, horrified at the mere thought. "Gods, no! I never felt that way for Penny."

Connor patted him on the back. "You know, it's okay, man. There will be other chicks."

The son of Zeus sighed heavily, face-palming. He didn't have time for this _boy-bonding_.

Chris laughed. "Dude, we're only teasing. Besides, it isn't like we've never been friend-zoned before."

"Sieva Pekkanen," Connor said with a playful sigh.

Travis shook his head at his brother, scoffing. He sat a hand on Thadeus' shoulder. It was then that the son of Zeus noticed that he was the largest boy in the room, Chris only slightly smaller. "So, what do you say? You want our help?"

Thadeus bit down on his bottom lip, meeting the eyes of the other boys slowly. Finally, he nodded. Chris, Connor, and Travis all smiled.

"You know, you're pretty cool," Travis said.

"Do you even know my name?"

"Yeah, it's Thadeus," Connor said. Whenever the son of Zeus looked at him questioningly, he smirked. "We have a way of finding out things."

He found it slightly creepy and extremely scary, but it was typical. The Hermes and Athena cabins were really secretive. While Annabeth's cabin regulated the camp's system—which held information about every camper—the children of Hermes provided them with the dirt on all demigods.

Every cabin helped out in some way, behind the scenes. The Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, and Ares cabin took care of any physical disturbances. The Demeter cabin assisted the satyrs and wood nymphs in keeping the forestland healthy. The children of Aphrodite usually organized events, even sometimes collaborating with the Athenians. In a way, without input from Chiron or Dionysus, the demigods ran the camp.

"So what do I do?" the son of Zeus brought himself to ask.

* * *

Thadeus walked to dinner, trying with difficulty to keep the smirk from his face. He spotted Penny eating alone, far enough away from Dionysus and Chiron. Perfect.

The son of Zeus changed his direction, heading straight for the Ares Cabin's table. Clarisse La Rue was the first to notice him, her lips pulling up into a sneer. Unthreatened, he walked until he reached the table. The eyes of Clarisse's siblings followed after hers, studying him in distaste and a slight bit of curiosity. Mark and Sherman glared at him, both beginning to stand.

"Sit your asses down," the son of Zeus said tensely. "I'm not here to start trouble."

The brothers hesitated, not believing a word from the taller demigod's mouth. With a glare from Clarisse, Mark and Sherman sat down quickly.

"What do you want?" Clarisse asked, and her tone revealed that she really didn't care. He smiled wryly at her, knowing that she was in on their little joke. Chris had talked to her previously, asking for her assistance in keeping Mark and Sherman reigned in.

"I wanted to apologize to Mark…and Sherman, for my behavior," the demigod said, trying so hard not to laugh outright. The smirk on his face tried to break through, but he fought it back. He had never been a good actor, even though it had been his mother's occupation, but he was pretty good at lying to people he didn't like. "It was most unlike me. There was truly only one reason I acted the way I did."

"Oh yeah?" Mark snapped. "Why's that, pansy?"

Thadeus fought off the urge to break the vulture-looking boy's nose, instead giving him a tense smile. "Penny has a major crush on you, Marky. Truth is…I got a little jealous. I mean, how could I ever compete with a man of _your _looks?"

Mark didn't pick up on the hidden sarcasm, and he snickered. "It's about time you came around, loser. I thought you'd never learn your place." Thadeus gave another fake smile, nodding his head in agreement. "Anyway," he started again, a lecherous grin on his face, "your bitch likes me, huh? I figured she had a thing for me."

The son of Zeus dug his nails into his palms, biting back every cruel remark that came to his mind. Mark was really difficult not to beat unconscious. Thadeus felt both the feminist and the overprotective cousin in him fire up, wanting to shout that Penny was in no way a _bitch_. Despite his anger, he managed to reel himself back in to focus.

"What can I say?" _Women just love assholes like you, Mark_. "She's too shy to look over at you, but she's going crazy for you. She had me up all night, just talking about how attractive she thought you were."

Sherman looked slightly jealous of his brother, as Mark shamelessly smirked. The brothers were like putty in Thadeus' hands, and he loved it. Having any sort of power over other people had always thrilled him. There was no greater pleasure than holding an advantage over his enemies. On second thought, he probably preferred eating cheeseburgers. Still, the other thing was pretty satisfying too.

Gods, he was hungry. He had to get fast food soon, or he was going to die.

It took him forever to notice that Mark was saying something.

"…I guess I'd better go talk to her," the son of Ares said. "Hey, Sherman, be my wing man?"

Sherman, although he looked disturbed by the idea, nodded. The brothers, after asking permission from Clarisse (and to think, they had called _Thadeus_ a pussy before), headed over to Penny's table. The son of Zeus followed behind them, wanting to make sure that they didn't plan on being disrespectful to her.

They'd be dead before they hit the ground if they dared to touch her in a way that made her uncomfortable.

Brushing off his frustrations with the sons of Ares, he willed himself to sit back and enjoy the show. He sat down next to Penny, and when she looked at him curiously, he smiled widely. This was going to be too great.

Mark sat an elbow on the table, directly next to Penny. When she didn't acknowledge him, he lost some of his confidence and scowled. He cleared his throat, knocking hard on the table with a clenched fist. Sherman kept his gaze on the ground, obviously not wanting to be there.

"What?" the daughter of Poseidon asked, setting her fork down to glare. "What could you possibly want now? Here to dump more food on me?"

Mark smiled, but Thadeus thought it only made him look like a greasy pervert. "Of course not, baby," he said. "Sherman and I would've never done that, if we knew how much you liked me."

"…how much I _what_?"

"Don't play shy now," the son of Ares said, glancing to Thadeus to wink at him. "Your buddy here told me all about your little crush. Listen, sweetheart, how's about you and me go to the beach later today?"

Thadeus ate a forkful of Penny's rice, and nearly choked on it when she roughly elbowed him in the ribs. He made a pained noise, hunching forward in his seat. For such a small girl, Penny packed a pretty mean jab.

"Oh, did he?" Penny asked, batting her eyelashes at her cousin. "Thadeus, you are such a sweetheart." Then, surprising the son of Zeus, she turned to Mark again and said, "I would love to go to the beach with you."

Fuck! What the hell was she doing? This wasn't supposed to happen!

Mark grinned like the slime bag he was. "Great, sugar. I'll pick you up around eight, then?"

"Sounds terrific!" Penny agreed, her voice sickly sweet and completely false.

Thadeus seethed in his seat, trying his very best to keep a solid lid on his temper. What was she doing? She was going to make Drew even angrier about the whole thing. What would the daughter of Aphrodite do to her? The son of Zeus was sure of only one thing. He had to fix this catastrophe before it had a chance to begin. In order to repair everything, he had to make sure that nothing bad would happen to Penny, and that meant he had to go visit Drew.


	7. An Unhealthy Reliance

**A/N: **Sorry for the wait. But good news for Nico lovers: I'm planning to introduce him in the next chapter, as well as Annabeth.

Thanks for reading, and reviews are appreciated!

* * *

**The Distortion of Destiny**

* * *

**An Unhealthy Reliance**

Thadeus scratched the back of his head, standing in front of Cabin 10, clueless. He wasn't sure what he was going to get himself into, but he knew that it couldn't be anything good. But, he had to stop Drew from doing anything hurtful to Penny. There was no other option.

It only took a few moments for the door to swing open after he knocked. He found himself face-to-face with Mitchell, who looked surprised upon seeing him. Without bothering to ask anything, the son of Aphrodite moved out of the way. Thadeus stepped inside, both relieved and disturbed to see that every camper seemed to be in the cabin.

Drew had been seething in a chair, but she rose upon seeing him. The scowl was wiped from her features immediately, replaced by a smirk that gave him reason to be cautious. "Theo, right?"

"Thadeus," he corrected without so much as blinking. Undoubtedly, she knew his _actual _alias. She was merely trying to get a rise out of him. "I need you to do me a favor."

The daughter of Aphrodite brightened instantly, sauntering over to him and stringing her lithe arms around his neck. The scent of fresh pine and nutmeg filled his senses, and he had to keep his eyes from closing. Honestly, she was the child of the Goddess of Love—it wasn't like she was going to smell _bad_. Her scent reminded him of Christmas.

"Wrap your arms around me," she whispered up to him. Unable to help it, he sat his hands on her hips, but continued to stare blankly at her. "Now, about this favor…are you sure that you want to be indebted to me?"

Heaving a frustrated sigh, he eyed her uncomfortable siblings. "Anything."

Drew smiled widely. "Wonderful. What is it you want then?" she asked, slowly running a finger down his chest.

Thadeus turned his attention to the wall behind her head. "I want you to leave Penny alone."

Drew scoffed. "That boyish chick? No problem."

"Wait…you aren't angry?"

The daughter of Aphrodite seemed to be contemplating it for a moment, starting to fiddle with the neckline of his tank top. "Angry? No. Threatened? Well, that's a whole other story."

"She doesn't want to take Mark from you," Thadeus argued. "She's only going out with him to get back at me for trying to prank her."

Drew hummed. "It isn't Mark that I have taken an interest in." She sighed, giving a smile that looked foreign to her face. "But, all right. I will not do anything to bring harm to little Penny."

Thadeus exhaled softly, sincerely holding her gaze. "Thank you."

Drew turned away, dismissing him with a wave of her hand. He couldn't help but smirk at her rough act, nodding in her direction as he began to leave the cabin. Before he could shut the door, he heard her say, "Don't forget that you owe me."

How could he? He would probably be regretting it for the rest of his life.

Thadeus sighed, making his way to the arena. There was something else he had to do, now that the threat of Drew was out of the picture. He had to make sure to keep Mark in control, and there was only one person for that job.

As he had anticipated, there was only one person in the arena. She was hacking at a straw dummy—gracefully, just like she did everything else. She wore no armor, only her standard uniform.

He had almost forgotten how beautiful she was.

Deciding against using his spear, he quickly grabbed one of the practice swords. He swung it in his hands expertly. As a female, he had been skilled with several weapons. It seemed as if, even though he was not used to using his spear again yet, he was still able to wield a sword.

He crept around the girl, watching as she continued to destroy all of the camp's dummies. It was apparent to him that she was very angry about something. It was unusual to see. She typically hid her anger and kept it all bottled up. Thadeus was one of the few people that had ever seen her upset about something, but that was mostly because he had spent a lot of time trying to piss her off before.

Thadeus once again spun the sword, and even he would admit that he was definitely showing off with the way he twirled the blade and switched hands. She heard the unmistakable sounds of the blade this time, turning and aiming her knife at him.

The son of Zeus smirked, getting into a fighting stance. "Zoë," he acknowledged bluntly. "Looking to blow off some steam?"

"I desire nothing from thee. Leave."

Her tone was harsh, but he could see that she really didn't have anything personal against him. She had gotten slightly better with judging men. She was merely putting on that tough visage first, obviously not trusting him. He was fine with that. He was the same way, just maybe a tad less cold about it.

There was a glint in her eyes that said that she really needed an actual opponent—someone that could keep up with her.

"Come on," he gloated, "you can't keep beating on that dummy."

"There is a dummy before me. Perhaps I shall beat on him?"

Thadeus couldn't help but laugh. He had always liked Zoë…even when he had hated her. She was definitely a challenge, and he loved a good competition. Without giving her a chance to make a move first, he attacked.

Zoë was late on blocking him, but she still managed to duck beneath the blade. She spun in the air, aiming a high kick to his face. He side-stepped easily, feeling her boot barely scrape against his high cheekbone.

She looked surprised, but barely had time to dwell on it as he clashed his sword against her knife. Taking advantage of her state, he pushed her back away from him.

"You fight similarly to a close friend of mine," she said, breathing somewhat heavily. _You?_ So she _had_ been listening to his weekly modern grammar lectures. "Naturally, she is better." Surprising him, she dropped her fighting stance. "Confess, boy. What truly brings thee here?

And, back to _thee_ again, just when he thought they were making some progress.

"Do you remember my friend Penny?" he asked, dropping the practice sword.

"The maiden who was assaulted during supper?"

Thadeus nodded slowly. "Right, uh, well, she has a date tonight."

Zoë narrowed her eyes at him. "The Hunters of Artemis do _not _help with love and romance. Thou—you are foolish to come to me with that information. I would never help a male hero."

"It isn't for me! It's for Penny. The date is with Mark, the asshole who dumped the food on her," Thadeus said urgently. "She only agreed to it because I tried to trick her. But, I know she doesn't really want to. You have to help her. She's a girl in need, and I know for a fact that you have helped plenty of those."

"And you ask of me what?"

"I need you to protect Penny. Watch her during the date, and make sure Mark doesn't try anything with her. He is picking her up at eight, and then he's taking her to the beach," he said, projecting his voice as commanding as possible. Even if he was no longer in the right form, the huntress would answer his commands—it was nearly impossible for them not to. Unless Artemis officially dismissed him, he still had her blessing.

Zoë exhaled heavily, before she sheathed her hunting knife. "I will do this," she agreed, looking up at him, "…for thy friend Penny."

Thadeus smiled in relief, rubbing the nape of his neck.

"Nervous habit?" Zoë asked, arching her brow.

Shit. There was a look of recognition in her eyes.

The son of Zeus stopped immediately, shrugging. "Not really," he lied. "Anyway, thank you."

"This does not change a single thing, _hero_," she responded, although her voice wasn't as icy as it usually was whenever she was talking to men. "Gods be praised," she muttered in exhaustion before leaving him behind in the arena.

The demigod smirked, trailing after her. He watched as she walked with determination into Artemis' cabin, and he knew that he had captured her interest. She was going to do the best she could to convince the other huntresses to guard Penny, and for that he was grateful. If he tried to take on Mark at the beach, the son of Ares would immediately know that he had been lied to. For once in his life, Thadeus had to allow someone else to do the fighting for him, no matter how much he cringed at the thought.

He released a breath of fresh air, realizing that he now had a little break from the drama, at least until eight. He made his way into the Big House, ignoring whatever loud, boner comments Dionysus had, and entered his room. Penny was lying under the covers, staring up blankly at the ceiling. Confidently, Thadeus walked over to her side of the bed and sat in the chair facing her.

The smirk she gave him was just too much for him, and he ended up laughing.

"I should've gotten Annabeth's help on this one," he admitted.

Penny swatted him on the shoulder. "You think?" She shrugged beneath the blankets. "I am sorry, though, about the masturbation incident." He couldn't help but blush at that. "I was still upset about the night before."

"You had reason to be," he agreed. "I was being an ass."

"Uh, yeah," she said obviously. "But, still. I shouldn't have damaged your—"

"Don't say something gross again, please," he begged. "I can't take any more boner jokes."

The daughter of Poseidon threw her head back on the pillows and laughed. "Well, okay, if you insist. I won't make any more jokes!" she promised, raising her hand in a mock-oath. "For now."

Thadeus ignored her last statement, eyeing the wet rag on her forehead in concern. "Rough period?" he asked knowingly. She managed a nod. "Migraine? Cramps?" Again, she nodded. "You need to take some medicine and try and get some rest. I'll go run and get you some Midol and something to drink it down with. You stay here."

He made a move to get out of the chair, but found her hand grasping his arm. "I'm not a child, Thad. I can take care of myself. I'm hardly in any pain."

"Penny, I'm being generous to you for the first time ever," he said, smirking. "Take advantage of it."

She rolled her eyes, but released his arm. It only took him a few moments, and he was once again at her bedside. He handed her an opened can of soda and placed the medicine in her palm. He looked out the window as she swallowed the pills down, watching as campers pushed each other around on the basketball court.

"Girl talk," Penny said, snorting at the way it sounded. Thadeus looked back at her. "There's no getting out of this date, is there?"

"You've dug your own grave, Pinhead."

"Great," she said, sighing. She reclined her head back onto the pillows. "What do I do?"

"Go on the date," Thadeus replied. "Pretend to be an actual chick. You'll do fine. Just act oblivious every time he tries to make a move."

Penny paled. "Make a move?" He nodded. "Gods. What if he tries to force himself on me? Thadeus, I'm not used to this body yet. I haven't had the time to train. Do I still have the Curse of Achilles? Can I even use Riptide well?"

"Penny," he said softly, grabbing her hand to comfort her. "Calm down. I've already taken care of everything. All you need to worry about right now is your outfit."

"My outfit? Shit. I have to worry about that?"

Thadeus smirked, nodding slowly. "Admittedly, I have no knowledge of that kind of thing. It's not like I spent my female life preparing for dates."

"What am I going to do, then?"

"I was thinking that maybe we could get Rachel to help us," he replied smoothly. "Has she had a history of dating?"

Penny shrugged. "I wouldn't know. I don't think so. I mean, she and I hung out a couple of summers ago, but I wouldn't consider that dating."

Thadeus paused. Penny and Rachel had practically dated?

"Maybe she'll know," the daughter of Poseidon stated hopefully. "Why don't you go and ask her?"

The son of Zeus groaned, flopping onto his back. He sighed in relief once his head hit the soft foot of the bed. "Pen, I've been walking around all freaking day."

The demigoddess crossed her arms over her chest. "I have cramps," she pointed out.

"Good for you," he quipped sarcastically.

"What happened to being nice to me?"

"I guess I'm just all out of fucks."

Penny snickered, grabbing a nearby pillow and slamming it into his face. He angrily tossed it off, and his blazing blue eyes bore into her.

Rolling her sea green eyes, she sighed. "I guess you've been drained of your kindness," she joked. Penny slowly stood from the bed. "I'll go see if I can find Rachel. I would tell you to stay put, but I have no doubts that you're going to be lying there for the next seven years of your life."

"You know it, cutie," came the wry reply.

Penny scoffed, making her way towards the door. "Well, since you insist on being lazy, you can be our judge."

"Judge?"

The daughter of Poseidon smirked, and Thadeus guessed that he wasn't going to appreciate what she was going to suggest. "Yeah, our judge," she responded. "You can give us your _boyish _opinion on the outfits."

The son of Zeus released a groan of mock-anguish, running a hand through his hair.

"Oh, fine. Just go and get Rachel."

Penny sneered in triumph, hurrying out of the Big House. Thadeus stared at her back incredulously. What had happened to her horrible cramps? She was such a drama queen.

Thadeus released a yawn, stretching further back onto the bed. He crossed his arms behind his head and felt his eyes starting to close. Before they could, he heard a knock at the door.

Without bothering to keep his eyes from closing, he called out, "Come in!"

He knew before the centaur spoke that it was Chiron.

"You have a phone call," the wise trainer said, smiling and handing over the wireless receiver.

Confused, Thadeus opened his eyes and accepted it, cautiously bringing it up to his ear. "Hello?" he asked as Chiron left the room, closing the door behind him.

"Thalia," a kind voice greeted. The son of Zeus couldn't help but smile. "Did Per—uh, my daughter tell you that the two of you are coming over soon?"

"No, Ms. Jackson, I guess she forgot to mention that," Thadeus said, snickering. "She forgets to tell me a lot of things."

"Please, please," the woman begged. "Call me Sally."

"Sally," Thadeus amended, amusement lacing his tone. "When are we supposed to be visiting?"

"Paul and I are going to give you two a ride tomorrow," Sally responded. "Tell…um, Penny, would you?"

"Why, of course," the son of Zeus replied. "I'll make sure she knows."

"I'm so excited," the woman admitted. "It has been a while since I have seen you. I want to see how much you've…well, changed." She released a little laugh. "I have to say that I'm actually anxious to see how my _daughter _looks."

"Kind of ugly."

"Thalia!"

He rolled his eyes, chuckling. "Just playing, Sally," he said to calm her. "She's actually pretty cute. Her personality still ruins it, though."

"I'm sure she thinks the same about you," Sally said, laughing with him. "The two of you just can't manage to get along, can you?"

"We can," he replied softly. "We just don't."

"It's a shame," Sally said, amused. Thadeus faintly heard a male's voice begin to speak to her. "Oh, crap. Thalia, I have to go now. I'll see you tomorrow around noon."

"Bye," the son of Zeus said, hanging up with a smile.

Sally truly was a terrific woman.

"Who was that?"

Thadeus turned around to see Rachel and Penny standing in the open doorway. Penny, who had asked the question, stepped forward. The pretty little Oracle sent the son of Zeus a wide smile in greeting, and he couldn't help but return it.

"It was your mother," he informed Penny, almost laughing when her eyes widened suspiciously. "She wanted me to let you know that she and Paul are picking us up tomorrow."

Penny looked surprised, but recovered quickly. "What time?"

"Around noon."

Rachel looked almost sad, and her fiery eyebrows were drawn together. "Are you two going to be coming back to camp?"

"We're just going to visit Mom," the daughter of Poseidon assured her friend. "Now, we need to focus on my…date."

Rachel grimaced. "I can't believe you said yes, even if it was to one-up Thad."

"It couldn't get that bad, right?"

Thadeus released a sympathetic sigh. "A man who dumps his food on you isn't exactly generous boyfriend material. The date is going to definitely suck Olympian balls, but if we're lucky, you won't be hanging around him for long."

"What have you got planned?"

"Shush," he silenced Penny, smiling at her in what he hoped was a reassuring manner. "You pick out your outfit."

When he made to leave the room, Penny quickly grabbed him by the forearm. "Thadeus, where are you going?"

He scratched the back of his head. "Uh…outside of the room."

"Why would you do that?" The daughter of Poseidon appeared genuinely confused.

Thadeus shrugged bashfully. "You're a girl, and you're going to be getting undressed."

The demigoddess rolled her sea green eyes, throwing him onto the bed with a surprising display of strength. "Grow up, Thad. You're used to watching girls undress."

"It was different with the Hunt," he argued, his cheeks quickly beginning to redden. "I'm not some kind of Peeping Tom."

"Don't you all shower together or something?" Rachel asked, just to get a rise out of him.

"Yes, sometimes," he responded, not picking up on the fact that they were only trying to bother him. "We didn't always have enough time for individual baths. We were always on the move and all." He noticed them laughing at him. "Hey, what's so funny?"

"Oh, nothing," the redhead dismissed, but her smile said everything.

Penny smirked. "Don't you think that's a little…gay?"

"Don't you think you're a little…stupid?" he countered sarcastically. "Fuck off, Pen."

"Language," she chided jokingly. Then, she looked to her redheaded friend. "Rach, would you mind picking me out an outfit? I haven't got a clue."

The Oracle grinned. "Sure thing, Penny." Rachel walked to the closet and instantly began to rifle through it.

Immediately, the daughter of Poseidon began to bother her cousin. She nudged him in the shoulder as she sat down next to him on the bed.

"What?" Thadeus groaned irritably.

"So…you ever do anything with a chick?"

"Penny, drop it," Thadeus said.

"I'm just saying—all that time showering with pretty young girls, and you ever got your freak on?"

Man, Penny was such a pervert when she was on her period.

"Not all of the huntresses are lesbians—oh, shit."

Thadeus hadn't meant to let the secret slip. It was one of the many secrets of the Hunt that Artemis tried her best to keep hidden. A majority of the huntresses did enjoy the _company _of one another, but it did not count as breaking their vow.

Rachel spun around instantly, her eyebrows raised to her hairline and a skirt dangling from her hands. Penny had stopped talking, and breathing apparently, and had settled for staring at her cousin with a dazed glint in her eyes.

The son of Zeus moaned in distress, closing his eyes and reclining onto the mattress. "Oh, father, kill me now and end this torture."

"…some of the huntresses actually have sex with each other?"

Thadeus' eyes fluttered open and her glared at Penny harshly. "You keep your mouth shut about that. If Artemis finds out that I spilled the beans, she'll slaughter me."

Rachel walked over rather shakily and handed the demigoddess an outfit. "Go ahead and try this on." Her voice sounded weak and she cleared her throat.

That was certainly odd, Thadeus thought but he remained silent. He was thankful that the Oracle was trying to change the subject. He was blushing enough for everyone in the room, and despite his best efforts, he started to get a strange twinge in his sweatpants.

All his mind could picture was Zoë Nightshade, stark naked as beads of water dripped from her flawless skin—

What the fuck?

Admittedly, it wasn't the first time he had ever thought about the huntress in _that way_. It still came as a surprise, though. With the gender change, his hormones only seemed to become worse by the day. He had been having more sexual dreams than he could count, and he wasn't able to regulate his wandering eyes.

He was thrown back into reality as he watched Penny stand from the bed and slowly begin to take her shirt off. The bra she was wearing—the one that had once been Thadeus'—appeared to be a size too small for her, and revealed a little much. Her breasts were smooth and tan, and had a nice, firm look to them.

Thadeus' eyes drifted to Rachel and, before he could stop himself, he pictured her getting undressed. He could imagine just how flawless her pale skin would look—how smooth and warm it would feel.

The son of Zeus groaned aloud, moving his legs closer together. That familiar feeling coursed through his body again, and it took him a while to realize that he had gotten hard again.

Rachel gave him a confused little smile when she heard the noise he made, silently questioning him. Penny didn't pause in her undressing and, rather than quickly slip on a shirt, she removed her pants. Even though he tried to (honestly!) he couldn't look away from her round backside.

Oh, yeah. Thadeus was definitely an "ass man".

The Oracle followed his line of sight and nearly broke out into laughter, but wisely refrained from doing so. Instead, she settled for making a cunning remark. "All that showering with the hunters getting to your head?"

"Would you two drop that?" Thadeus asked irritably, finally looking away from Penny's body. Thankfully, the daughter of Poseidon had not caught him staring. Unthankfully, Rachel had. "I never did anything with my hunters."

Penny smiled lewdly, but jokingly. She wiggled her eyebrows. "What about with Artemis?'

"Oh my gods," Rachel said in surprise, trying not to laugh. She slapped her friends arm in a reprimanding manner. "Penny!"

The son of Zeus felt his expression drop. He bitterly looked away from the girls, even though it was definitely difficult with Penny currently in a short skirt and bra. "Leave me alone."

"Awh, are you pouting?" the redhead asked teasingly. "That's so cute."

Trying to get back at her, Thadeus responded with the first thing that popped into his brain. "I thought you were a virgin Oracle. If you go around complimenting boys, don't you think you'll end up royally pissing Apollo off?"

"She was just kidding, Thad," the daughter of Poseidon said with a roll of her eyes, finally slipping on a damn shirt. "I doubt that anyone could ever seriously call you cute."

"Hey!"

"Penny, don't be mean," Rachel admonished. She looked Thadeus in the eyes, making him fidget. "You're actually very cute. Don't listen to her."

He smiled sheepishly. "Okay."

"_Okay_," Penny mocked his shy voice, causing him to send her a hateful glare. Ignoring the expression, the demigoddess playfully spun around. "So, on to more important matters, how do I look?"

"Liked you better with the clothes off," the son of Zeus snapped. Penny sent him a pleading look, and he surprised himself by instantly complying. "Fine. It looks really good. I wouldn't wear my hunting boots with it, though."

Penny smiled, pleased, and glanced to the Oracle. "What's your verdict?"

The redhead gave her an encouraging smile. "You look good, but not too good, so we _probably _will not have to worry about Mark trying to stick his dick in you."

"Do you have any other shoes she could wear?"

Rachel nodded. "Yeah, I should have some." Biting her lip, she eyed Penny sympathetically. "We might have to…"

"Have to what?" the demigoddess asked nervously.

"If I don't have any to fit you, we'll have to go see Annabeth."

Thadeus grinned. "Can I come, too? Last time I saw Annabeth, she thought I was flirting with her sister. She didn't seem to like me too much. It's been forever since I've actually talked to my best friend, though."

Penny nodded, releasing a tired sigh. "Yeah," she said. "I would feel more comfortable with you there, too. I'm so freaked about meeting her again."

Rachel smiled reassuringly. "Don't stress it," she soothed. "Annabeth has been worried sick about you two. Hopefully, she'll end up liking you guys."

"Hopefully," Penny agreed quietly.

"Penny, trust me—" Rachel began to say, but then her attention was directed elsewhere—the crotch of Thadeus' sweatpants. Her eyes were wide and her smirk was incredulous. "Really? Again?"

The daughter of Poseidon erupted into laughter when she noticed his hard-on. "Two in one day? Careful. You don't want to go breaking any records."

Thadeus scowled. Well, he was never going to be hearing the end of that.

Penny patted him on the shoulder. "You sure know how to cheer a girl up and give her a great laugh!"

"Go to Hades."


End file.
